Sophomore Kenyatta Louder poured in 32 points, his second consecutive and third 30+ points scoring game of the season, as the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners opened the LA Southwest Intensity Classic with an 89-85 win over Oxnard College on Thursday. Louder and the Roadrunners had a tougher time the remainder of the tourney after Rio Hondo suffered losses to Orange Coast and Santa Ana.
Louder averaged 16 points over the tournament while Jesus Hernandez also had a good three-game stretch averaging 16.3 points.
Rio Hondo 89, Oxnard 85
Louder was impressive with his 32-point outburst in the Roadrunners' opening-game win over the Condors. Rio Hondo trailed 41-40 at halftime and was down 62-60 with 11 minutes to play. But Jonathan Martinez nailed a three-pointer at the 10:42 mark to put Rio Hondo ahead for good.
Oxnard got as closed as 75-74 with 5:48 remaining, but the Roadrunners were able to hold off any late rallies. A quick 5-1 run extended Rio Hondo's lead to 80-75 with 3:23 left on the clock.
Anthony Rios had a good game for the Roadrunners, getting a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Hernandez ended with 11 points while Alexis Baron also had a double-double and led all with 14 boards to go with 11 points.
Orange Coast 76, Rio Hondo 62
Orange Coast opened the contest with a 10-0 run and Rio Hondo could never recover in the loss on Friday. OCC was up 42-28 at halftime as the Roadrunners never threatened.
Louder couldn't get much going offensively in the game as he made just 1 of 10 shots and scored five points. It marked the only time in 12 games this season that he failed to score in double digits. But the Roadrunners got double-digit scoring efforts from Rios (12 points), Martinez (12 pts.), Baron (11 pts.), and Hernandez (10 pts.).
Santa Ana 79, Rio Hondo 68
It was Martinez' time to shine as he totaled 28 points but the Roadrunners couldn't keep a late first-half lead and suffered the loss on Saturday to close the tournament.
Hernandez' jumper at the 4:17 mark in the first extended Rio Hondo's lead to 31-25. But Santa Ana outscored the Roadrunners 17-4 over the final four minutes to jump ahead 42-35 at the break.
Louder chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Rio Hondo, now 2-10 overall, has just one final tune up before opening South Coast Conference play. The Roadrunners travel to former Foothill Conference foe College of the Desert on Dec. 20 for a 3 p.m. game. Then on Friday (Dec. 22), Rio Hondo will make the short trip down the 605 to face Cerritos College in a SCC interdivision game at 6 p.m..