Freshman Michael Barrera and sophomore Leo Maidana both scored 12 points while sophomore Justin Elliott had 14 rebounds, nine points, and six assists to help lead Rio Hondo College to a 71-53 Foothill Conference win over visiting College of the Desert on Saturday in Whittier. With the victory, Rio Hondo snapped a six-game losing streak and improved to 8-14 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Rio Hondo led for the majority of the first half before Desert rallied to take a 23-22 lead at the 3:06 mark in the first. But Barrera responded with three consecutive three-pointers to send Rio Hondo into the break with a 31-25 halftime advantage.
In the second, a three-pointer by COD's Carlos Martinez cut the Rio Hondo lead to just three points (45-42) at the 10:09 mark. But once again, Rio Hondo answered with another run, this time a 16-0 surge to put the game out of reach. Sophomore Juaquin Zavala nailed a pair of three-pointers while sophomore Dominic Ruiz had four of his six points during the run. RHC went on to outscore Desert 40-28 in the second half.
Rio Hondo held Desert to just 15 of 52 field goal shooting for the day while making 10 three-pointers of their own, including four by Barrera and three by Zavala.
Gabe Solache led Desert (5-15, 0-3 FC) with 19 points.
Rio Hondo returns to action next Saturday (Jan. 23) when the Roadrunners host Victor Valley College in a 3 p.m. Foothill Conference game.
