If it wasn't for a cold spell that lasted almost nine minutes on Saturday afternoon, the Reedley College men's basketball Tigers might have pulled off an upset over the state's third-ranked team, the Fresno City College Rams in Reedley.

But the Rams scored the last 17 points of the first half and the first five in the second half en route to a 95-75 win over the Tigers.

Reedley's last points of the first half came on a 3-pointer by Khalid Wilkins that tied the Central Valley Conference game at 31-all with four minutes remaining. Fresno City (8-0, 17-3) went on to score 17 straight to take a 48-31 lead into the halftime intermission. Reedley (2-6, 8-12) finally scored again with 16:35 left in the game on a basket by James Hannah.

Five Tigers scored in double figures, led by Uriah Carter with 17 points. Ruben Parks followed with 16 while Wilkins netted four 3-pointers and had 14. Cole Taber was next with 13 while Alex Olukoya came off the bench and netted all 11 of his points in the second half.

After a Wednesday, Jan. 30 road game at Porterville to start the second round of conference play, Reedley has three straight home games. The Tigers host Merced at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2 before a 5 p.m. contest with the College of the Sequoias Giants on Monday, Feb. 4. The homestand concludes with a 6pm matchup on Saturday, Feb. 9 with the Cerro Coso Community College Coyotes.

By Will Goldbeck