Columbia, CA — An enthusiastic crowd saw a dominant defensive effort in the 1st half lead to an eventual 85-60 win for the Columbia College Claim Jumpers Saturday night against Central Valley league foe, the Fresno City College Rams.
A large crowd gathered for a fan appreciation night at the Oak Pavilion on the Columbia College campus. Columbia jumped out to an early 9 – 0 start as the Rams struggled to keep the Claim Jumpers in check. By the end of the first half, the Squabbletown Squad had 8 blocks, several steals, and a 42-21 lead. First half scoring was led by EJ Campbell, second leading scorer in the Central Valley League, with 11 points and former Summerville Bear, Ry Atkins with 8.
In the second half, Columbia’s hot shooting cooled off and the refs seemed to be calling a much tighter game. At points, the offense was a bit out of sync against a Fresno team that started to find their rhythm. The Ram defense tightened up, drawing several charges and turning the Claim Jumpers over.  Fresno Guard, Xavier Francis came alive and started making tough shots in quick succession.
The second half spark plug for Columbia was Johnnie Jones who, for stretches, seemed to score at will.  Shooting 7-9, Jones also made all 4 of his free throws, had 4 rebounds and 2 assists. The Claim Jumpers fought off the best efforts of the Rams down the stretch, eventually extending their lead back to 20+ points. With about 4 minutes left to go in the game, Coach Hoyt sat his starters, giving some valuable minutes to some of the bench players.
Jones and Francis led all scorers, finishing with 19 points apiece. Â EJ Campbell and Aharon Young each had 14 points and league leading rebounder, Ahsan Huff collected 18 rebounds.
Columbia travels to Merced for their February 4th matchup.
