San Jacinto, CA - Nathan Kennedy picked a great night to have his best performance of the season. The former Marine was a perfect 7-7 from the field including 3-3 from deep and 3-3 from the charity stripe to post a career-best 20 points on the night. Kennedy, who came into the night averaging just under 5 per game, was patient all night for his opportunities. As he saw the first couple go down for him, it was noticeable that the confidence was rising. He continued to hit big shot after big shot all night including a four-point play in the second half during a time when it looked like MSJC was poised to make a run.
Both teams played at a high level all night, which is to be expected when two of the top Inland Empire Athletic Conference teams square off. It took a 52% shooting night from the Cacti to secure the 4 point win, 80-76. Mikah Blackwell was again a problem for the opposing team. He was able to get to the basket all night and had his mid-range game going. Blackwell finished with a team-high 26 points on 11-18 shooting on the night.
Mt. San Jacinto took a close first half and threatened to put the game away when they went on a run to build an eleven-point lead with just 4:44 left in the half. Copper Mountain had something to say about that as they put together a run of their own to finish the half down one, 37-36. The Cacti's run was started with a beautiful alley-oop from Tyler Hudson to Blackwell with 3:56 left in the first. Kennedy and Blackwell continued the rally and Jaylan Bradberry hit a big three to get the Cacti close at the first-half buzzer. Bradberry came off the bench to contribute 9 points and tied for the team-high in rebounds with 7. Tyler Hudson continues to show why he is one of the best point guards in the state. He had 14 points on the night and also chipped in with 7 rebounds and 8 assists.
The game never saw either team take more than a 4 point lead in the second half until Cris Dominguez hit his lone three-pointer of the night to give the Cacti their biggest lead of the game at 6 points with 34 seconds left to play. The game saw the teams exchange the lead 11 times and the score was tied 4 times throughout the contest. The Cacti stay in a tie for first in the IEAC and will host Chaffey, who is currently also 4-1 in conference play, on Saturday at 3PM. Admission is Free.