By John M. Sherrard

(FRESNO) With a championship final appearance in the City College of San Francisco last month, the Mounties traveled to the Fresno City College Classic and took on host Fresno, losing 70-62, in the opening game of the three-day tourney on Friday.

The Mounties were led by Isaiah Watson with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting (1 for 2 free throws). The sophomore also had six rebounds. Adding 11 points was guard Ryon O'Quinn, who was 1 of 4 from the field, but 9 of 13 from the charity stripe.

The Mounties, who are now 3-2 on the season, trailed by only four points at the half, 33-29, but were outscored again by four points in the second half for the 8-point loss.

Each team had 39 rebounds in the game with Mt. SAC freshman forward Nikita Ussenov coming down with a team-high seven boards (3 ORB, 4 DRB). Watson and freshman guard Josh Johnson grabbed six apiece.

The Rams shot a near-perfect 91% (31-34) free throws, while Mt. SAC was 17 of 28 from the line.

Mt. SAC sophomore guard Charlie Evans IV was 2 of 5 from beyond the arc for six points and sophomores Ashton McLaurin and Damarcus Carter had seven points each.

Mt. SAC will next take on Sequoias College in the second game of the tournament.

The Mounties will continue their pre-season schedule with the Bakersfield College Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday Nov. 25 against San Jacinto College at 5:00 p.m.

Mt. SAC will host its own tournament the next weekend, December 2-4 with eight teams taking part in the Mountie Classic.

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