By John M. Sherrard

(Walnut, Ca) After a close first half, the Mt. SAC Men's Basketball team pulled away in the second half and defeated the visiting Pasadena City College Lancers, 82-66, in the South Coast Conference North Friday night.

Mt. SAC led by four, 38-34, after 20 minutes of play but outscored the Lancers by 12 in the second half for the 16-point victory.

With the win the Mounties improved to 12-7 overall and 2-0 in the SCC and are tied with Chaffey College atop the standings.

Leading the way was the entire starting five with double-figure scoring, including sophomore guard Nick Brown (4-6 FG, 3-4 FT) and freshman Desmond Knox (6-8 FG, 4 RB) with 15 points apiece.

In addition, Brown was 4-6 from way downtown while Knox had three 3-pointers.

Two of those 3s came midway through the first half to help the Mounties gain a five-point lead, 22-17.

Adding 14 points was sophomore guard Ryon O'Quinn (4-5 FG, 6-6 FT) and scoring 10 points apiece was freshman guard Corey Grant (5-6 FG, 4 assists, steal) and sophomore A.J. McLaurin (4-8 FG, 2-2 FT).

In the second half with 13:48 remaining, O'Quinn connected with two consecutive layups to give the Mounties a 58-51 lead. That began a 14-4 run and with 5:34 left in the game, Mt. SAC had its biggest lead, 72-55.

Leading the way defensively for the Mounties was McLaurin with a game-high nine rebounds and O'Quinn brought down seven.

"I'm really proud of the fact that our guys did a good job of sticking to the game plan against PCC," Mt. SAC coach Clark Maloney said.

"I feel like a lot of the new guys are starting to understand what we need from them at both ends of the court for the entire game.

"I thought as a team we did a good job sharing the ball (Friday). Anytime you have 21 assists, that's a very good indicator that the team did a really good job of sharing the ball."

Leading the way for the Mounties in dishing out assists was O'Quinn with a game-high nine.

"We play in the toughest conference in California, so night in and night out we have to be prepared," Clark added.

Mt. SAC will host Rio Hondo on Wednesday for a 5:00 pm game.

Follow Mt. SAC Men's Basketball on twitter @MtSAC_MBKB

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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.