The Los Medanos College Mustangs were in it to win the Bay Valley Conference quarterfinals playoffs at home Tuesday night. Although they had a narrow lead of 40-37 at half time thanks in part to Royce Henry’s 11 points and Andrew Hall’s 8 points, the Mendocino Eagles controlled the ball at the last moments of the game to secure their 102-95 victory.

Tuesday’s men’s basketball contest was a high-powered and fast-paced offensive game from start to finish. There was a lot of extreme intensity from players on both teams as they competed for the ball and tried to make three point shots and control the backboards.

Mendocino head coach Billy Offill briefly shared his blueprint for his offensive attack against LMC.

“We like to shoot the ball,” said Offill after the team’s victory on the road.

Mendocino came out with the hotter hand in the second half by scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter. The game could have gone either way as both teams then seemed to be evenly matched offensively throughout much of the rest of the game, but the Mustangs’ fell short in the rebound department which lead to their defeat.

LMC made a comeback effort toward the end of the game but ultimately, the winning difference came in rebounds. The Eagles out rebounded the Mustangs primarily due to the efforts of Mendocino center Jamar King (44), Who made 14 rebounds for the Eagles during the game.

This was the Mustangs’ fourth matchup this season against the Eagles. LMC won the first three contests, but must now wait to see if this tournament loss will keep them from advancing deeper into the playoffs.

“We made a great comeback at the end and our guys showed a lot of heart,” said LMC head coach Derek Domenichelli after the disappointing defeat. “Hopefully we got enough all year to get us in.”

For more information on LMC’ men’s basketball team, visit http://www.losmedanos.edu/basketball/mens.asp