Men’s Basketball: Tough opening weekend for Roadrunners at Miramar tournament

It was a difficult start to the 2021-22 season for the Rio Hondo College men's basketball team. The Roadrunners suffered three losses over the weekend, including a buzzer-beater on Saturday against Golden West College, at the Don Gehler Memorial Tournement ay San Diego Miramar College.

Rio Hondo, now 0-3, will look for its first victory on Wednesday (Nov. 10) when it hosts College of the Desert in its home opener at 6 p.m.

Game 1 | Miramar 74, Rio Hondo 59: In the tournament opener on Thursday, the Roadrunners saw themselves trailing 35-28 at halftime and couldn't overcome the deficit in the second.

Chris Herrera and Matthew Turner-Bigbee both scored 14 points each to lead Rio Hondo. Sebastian Lara nearly posted a double-double with 9 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Game 2 | Orange Coast 76, Rio Hondo 67: Shymar Wiggins had a huge game with 19 points and 16 rebounds but a late Rio Hondo rally came up short in Friday's loss to Orange Coast.

The Roadrunners trailed by just two points at halftime (36-34) but the Pirates opened the second with a 14-5 run to put the game out of reach. Rio Hondo closed out the game with a 5-0 run but it was too late.

Andre Batiste had 11 points and 7 rebounds, while Herrera and George Ashley both score 10 points.

Game 3 | Golden West 67, Rio Hondo 65: With 12 seconds to play and the Roadrunners trailing 64-62, Sebastian Lara nailed a three-pointer with six seconds to play to put Rio Hondo ahead 65-64. But Golden West drove the length of the court and got a three-pointer at the buzzer from Ricky Briseno to snatch the win from the Roadrunners.

Turner-Bigbee scored 14 points to lead Rio Hondo while Lara added 12 points and Ashley chipped in with 11 points.