Men’s Basketball: Rio Hondo can’t close out Pasadena, fall in OT

The final buzzer had sounded and the six members of the Rio Hondo College men's basketball team began to celebrate what they thought was a 68-67 win over the visiting Pasadena City College Lancers on Wednesday.

But a foul was called on Pasadena's third put-back attempt just before the clock expired. PCC's Chris Blount sank 1 of 2 free throws to send the game to overtime.

In OT, Rio Hondo came up just short and was outscored 6-5 allowing Pasadena to escape with the 74-73 win to open South Coast Conference North Division play for both squads.

Rio Hondo had a pair of chances to win the game over the final 20 seconds of overtime. Uziel Felix missed a jumper with 18 seconds remaining and Kevin Sandoval's three-point attempt with four seconds left also did not go in.

Elijah McElroy had a huge game for Rio Hondo in the loss. He totaled a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Jonathan Martinez and Bryant Howing both scored 17 points while Feliz posted 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Chris Odionu had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Pasadena (13-6, 1-0 SCC).

The loss dropped Rio Hondo to 3-16 overall and 0-1 in SCC North play. The Roadrunners will look to snap their eight-game losing streak on Friday (Jan. 25) when they travel to No. 15 state-ranked L.A. Trade Tech for a 5 p.m. SCC North contest.