City Rams One Win Away in Defense of CCCAA State Championship Title
By Gracia Hernandez Rovelo
City College’s men’s basketball team trounced the Butte College Eagles at home with a 99-69 win on Saturday, Feb. 25 in a second-round playoff game.
Rams outlasted Butte with a 16-point lead during the first period, maintaining game superiority throughout the first half and increasing to a 30-point lead onto the game final.
Mezziah Oakman (34) was City College’s point leader scoring 22 points, followed by CJ Hardy (0) with 16 points and Te’Jon Sawyer (32) with 14 points that sparked a spirited reaction among the home crowd.
The Rams teamwork put out a solid defensive and offensive game play, combined with a series of slam dunks and 3-pointers from Oakman, Hardy and Sawyer that made the victory look easy.
The win propels the Rams record to 26-3 and keeps their points per game at 98.2.
No. 1 seeded Rams will host No. 8 Columbia College Claim Jumpers for Round 3 on Saturday March 4, at 7 p.m.
The Rams captured its 12th consecutive Coast Conference North Division championship with a 13-1 record. The Rams entered the postseason with an impressive 25-3 overall mark and are 11-1 at home this season.
One more win against Columbia College in the Northern California Regional Finals sends the Rams to the State Championships in defense of last year’s title. The championship series runs from March 9 through 12 at West Hills College Lemoore in Lemoore.
In other City College hoop news, the Rams captured conference honors, totaling eight All-Coast Conference North Division postseason awards. They included:
Coach of the Year: Justin Labagh
Most Valuable Player: Mezziah Oakman
First-Team:
Te’Jon Sawyer
EJ Neal
Jamir Thomas
All-Defensive Team
MVP: EJ Neal
Mezziah Oakman
All-Freshman Team
CJ Hardy