Rich Tesmer-led Rams men advance in regional

BY BRYANT-JON ANTEOLA

The Fresno Bee

Fresno City College guard Rich Tesmer took a shot in the mouth but refused to come out.

The Rams' lead in the second game of a Northern California Regional basketball doubleheader was down to two, and Tesmer knew his team needed him.

Bruised lip and all, he and the second-seeded Rams came punching back with a 12-2 run midway through the second half en route to a 71-66 victory against No. 7 Cosumnes River on Wednesday.

It was a sweep for the Rams, with the women opening the night by beating Solano 79-67 in their third-round game.

Tesmer finished with a team-high 18 points, eight during the critical run, and Chris Ashanti added 12.

Fresno City (30-2) will host No. 3 Santa Rosa -- a 67-60 winner over No. 6 Ohlone -- at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

"Sometimes you have to win ugly, and just grind it out, keep grinding and grinding and grinding," Rams coach Ed Madec said. "We could not pull away from these guys for the longest time. We did not play our best. But we played hard and made the plays when we needed to.

"Rich Tesmer stepped up like he always does. He's as tough if not tougher than anybody who's come through this program."

Referees let the teams play for most of the night with Fresno City going 4 of 5 from the free-throw line and Cosumnes River 4 of 7. Players regularly fell hard to the ground on drives to the basket.

Tesmer hardly seemed bothered. He scored 10 points in the first half, including a layup on an alley-oop pass. AJ Bridges led Cosumnes River (23-9) with 22 points.

The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6362, bjanteola@fresnobee.com or @Banteola_TheBee on Twitter.