Elijah McEloy scored 25 points while Jonathan Martinez poured in 23 points to help lead Rio Hondo College to a 75-70 come-from-behind victory over visiting Los Angeles Trade Tech College on Wednesday night.
The South Coast Conference North Division victory was the Roadrunners' first at home this season and also snapped their season-long 13-game losing streak.
The two squads were tied 35-35 at halftime before Trade Tech surged to take a 60-51 lead at the 9:45 mark in the second. But Rio Hondo put together a 12-3 run, capped by a three-pointer from McElroy, to even the score at 63.
Trade Tech went back out in front 66-65 briefly thanks to a bucket and successful free throw conversion by Erickson Leon with 3:09 to go.
But McElroy came back down the court and put Rio Hondo ahead for good with a layup and sealed the victory with another three-pointer with 2:14 remaining to give the Roadrunners a 70-66 advantage.
Trade Tech got as close at 73-70 with 15 seconds left, but Martinez converted 2 of 4 free throws down the stretch and came up with a big steal to seal the win.
Three pointers for huge in the win for Rio Hondo. Martinez nailed five with McElroy connecting on three. McElroy added 7 rebounds and 6 assists while Martinez totaled 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Bryant Howing also had a good game, chipping in with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Jonathan Strachan grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds.
The win improved Rio Hondo to 4-21 overall and 1-6 in the SCC North. The Roadrunners will look to keep the momentum going on Friday (Feb. 15) when they travel to Chaffey College for a 5 p.m. game.
