Men come up short vs. the Mustangs
Not much went well for the Vikings in a 69-59 loss to visiting Delta (8-6, 1-0) in the teams' Big 8 openers. Fresh off impressive back-to-back wins over Antelope Valley and Michigan's Wayne County in the Chabot Classic, the Vikings (12-4, 0-1) couldn't get it revved up this time.
The good news is the Big 8 season is a marathon. DVC, which has been bit by the flu bug, will have plenty of incentive to redeem itself Friday at American River, which fell to Santa Rosa 75-54 in its conference opener.
Things looked promising at times on a rainy Tuesday night as Brazilian freshman guard Victor Mijas scored on a layup off a nice Jovontae Carelton dish early in the second half to give DVC a 39-38 lead. But Delta roared ahead on a 12-3 run. DVC got as close as 63-57 on a Carelton 3-pointer off a Rodney Pope assist, but the Vikings couldn't hit the big shots down the stretch.
-- Matt Schwab