Chabot Moves One Win Away From State Elite Eight

The Chabot College men's basketball team is one win away from accomplishing something for the first time in nine years — advancing to the State Championships.
The host Gladiators started strongly and held off Los Medanos to take an 89-82 win Saturday night in the second round in the Northern Regional bracket of the California Community College Athletic Association playoffs.
Jaiden Rivera had a monster game for Chabot with 33 points, including eight 3-pointers, and seven rebounds. Zach Broadous added 19 points, and David Hector had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
No. 7 seeded Chabot will travel to No. 2 San Jose City in the Regional final on March 4, needing a win to advance to the CCCAA Championships at West Hills in Lemoore. Chabot fell to host San Jose City 85-82 in December.
At this point in the season it’s not about style points but surviving and advancing.
''We didn't play our best game, but we were able to dictate the pace and didn't let up at all,'' Chabot head coach Keenan McMiller said. ''Despite us not playing as good as we wanted on the offensive side, we kept trying to attack them.''
Rivera had the magic touch for the Glads (21-8).
''As soon as I hit my first couple of shots, I started to feel this was going to be one of those games for me'', Rivera said. ''There was some shots I was able to connect at some key moments of the game.”
Demetrius Howard had a huge presence in the key for Chabot. He forced the Mustangs to altar shots and keep them from pushing the ball deep near the rim. Howard finished with five boards and added two blocks.
''This was one of the better games on the year for (Howard) and it couldn't have come at a better time,'' McMiller said.
Rivera set the tone early by scoring eight points as Chabot jumped out to a 14-4 lead. He scored 14 in the first half as the Gladiators, ranked 14th in the CCCMBCA Top 30 poll, led by as much as 14 before settling for a 38-27 halftime lead.
The Gladiators needed a huge game from Rivera as their playmaker, Diggy Winbush, struggled with foul trouble and had to sit out a good part of the second half after collecting his fourth foul.
Broadous was also a factor, scoring 10 in the first half. He had six points late in the half, including a layup with 30 seconds left as Chabot opened up a 14-point lead, before Ramon Bailey hit a 3-pointer right before the buzzer to give the Mustangs some momentum.
Los Medanos came out for the second half determined to get back into it. The Mustangs outscored Chabot 15-7 to pull within three, five minutes into the second half.
The Gladiators responded with a 14-3 run to take a 59-45 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Rivera had six points during the run and Nick Tumlin hit back-to-back 3's.
''We have (Nick) Tomlin back healthy and he was huge hitting some key shots for us'', McMiller added.
Rivera continued his hot streak scoring 13 of Chabot's next 15 points as the Gladiators led by as much as 18, but the scrappy Mustangs twice pulled within six down the stretch.
Devin Carson did his best to keep the Mustangs in it, with 27 of his team-high 29 points in the second half. He scored eight straight Los Medanos points, including a three-point play that made it a five-point deficit with 36 seconds left, but that was as close as they would get.
The Gladiators took advantage of Los Medanos being forced to foul in the last four minutes, scoring their final 14 points on free throws while missing just four.
David Ogunleye, the Glads main rim protector during the season, added 10 points.
Chabot, which received a bye in the first round of the playoffs, improved to 13-0 at home this season.