Mt. San Antonio 84, Merritt 75
Merriit College
Eric (El Cerrito High) Nelson 7 3-8 17
Marcus (Bishop O'Dowd) Green 8 1-2 17
Elliott (Center High) Herald 5 5-6 16
Anthony (El Camino High) Knight 3 4-6 10
From the Bay Area News Group:
From Joe Davidson:The Merritt College men's basketball team's storybook run ended with an 84-75 loss to Mt. San Antonio-Walnut in the semifinals of the state playoffs on Friday at Cosumnes River College.Corey Allen had a game-high 24 points for the Mounties (28-3), who will face Chaffey-Rancho Cucamonga in Sunday's 1 p.m. title game. Chaffey beat City College of San Francisco 87-85 in the other semifinal.
Eric Nelson and Marcus Green each had 17 points for Merritt, the 15th seed in the Northern regional.
The Thunderbirds (18-13) had playoff wins over American River, defending state champion Fresno City, Ohlone and Delta.
Merritt trailed 63-57 with 11:14 remaining on a pair of free throws by Elliott Herald. The Thunderbirds came within six three more times, the last at 81-75 with 43 seconds left.
Guards Corey Allen and Garret Nevels scored 24 and 22 points, respectively, for the Mounties, who advance to the title game for the first time since 1955. Mt. Sac (27-3) made the state final four for the first time in 28 years in 1985.
Merritt (18-12) was the lowest seeded team to make the state final four, emerging as the No. 15 seed in the Northern California bracket by beating American River College 63-62 on a buzzer beater in an out-bracket opener.
The Thunderbirds were without two of their best players at CRC. After a 79-76 NorCal playoff win over Ohlone in Fremont, a post-game fight broke out. It started in the stands, poured onto the court and then outside of the gym.
An army of Division I college coaches were on hand, packed into one side of a full gym, including Bob Huggins of West Virginia. They were on hand to scout a number of recruits.
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