#8 seed Men's Basketball season comes to an end in the second round of CCCAA SoCal Regionals

#8 seed Men's Basketball season comes to an end in the second round of CCCAA SoCal Regionals
March 4, 2024

MOORPARK, CA - The #8 seeded Men's Basketball season came to an abrupt end in the second round of the CCCAA Southern California regional play-offs, falling to #9 seeded Mount San Jacinto, 94-86. 

In the first half, the WSC North champs to an early lead and were up by 9 before the Eagles went on a 9-0 run to tie it at the 6:00 minute mark and the rest of the half went back and forth and ended in a 50-50 tie.

The second half started like the end of the first half. It included 7 lead changes and 4 ties in the first 4 minutes before the Eagles went on a 10-4 run to take a 70-60 point lead with 12:50 left and that's all the Eagles needed. The Raiders would chip away at the lead cutting it to 5 in the final minute but ran out of time, 94-86.

Jack Benyshek had a game high 24 points. Jamaal Unuakalu had his usual double-double, 17 points with 13 rebounds. Kenji Cooper ended with 21 points while Avi Halpert had 17 points with 6 assists. 

The Raiders end their season at 22-7, WSC North Champions at 11-1. They reached a CA State ranking at 11 after not being mentioned in any pre-season polls. Defeated Last Chance U East LA, West LA, on their to the final of the Alvin Hunter Classic before falling to powerhouse San Francisco City, 90-84. Opened the Grossmont losing to NorCal Power Yuba, then defeated Copper Mountain and Saddleback to the Consolation title. Had other feather capping wins over Defending CA State Champ Fullerton, #6 Cerro Coso.

Raiders lose key players in Benyshek and Unuakalu but Halpert, Cooper, and Jordan Torres return in '24-'25