OCC Leads the Pack in OEC Men's Basketball Title Race

COSTA MESA -- For the first time in nine seasons, the Orange Coast College men's basketball team put up a "W" against regional power Saddleback College, rolling past the Gauchos, 60-53, on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

It's been an impressive start to OEC Play for the Pirates (12-7, 3-1 in conference) and on Friday night, stingy defense and timely offense helped snap an 18-game losing streak to the Gauchos (10-9, 2-1).

Joshua Davis led Coast with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Lloyd Wright used a strong second half to knock down 15 points. Off the bench, Robert Nixon made the most of his 14 points with 10 points and three rebounds.

For Saddleback, J.J. Overton had 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but the rest of the Gauchos combined for just 12-of-36 shooting (33.3%).

The rough night began early for the Gauchos as Coast jumped out to a 9-0 lead, holding Saddleback scoreless for nearly seven minutes to start the game.

Saddleback regrouped and used a 15-4 run to take a 15-13 lead and from there, both teams battled back and forth with neither team grabbing control of the contest.

The Gauchos had their biggest lead of the night at 33-25 with 16 minutes left in the game before Coast outscored Saddleback 24-9 over the next 10 minutes to grab a 49-42 advantage.

A 7-0 run by Saddleback over the next two minutes evened things up at 49, but a basket by Wright and a three-point play by Davis pushed OCC's lead back up to five at 54-49 with 2:09 left.

In the final minute of play, Saddleback's Isaiah Brooks drove in on a lay-up to cut the lead to one possession (55-52), but Wright responded with a lay-up of his own and the Gauchos never threatened again.

Coast will play at Santa Ana College on Wednesday at 5 p.m. OCC's next home game will be on Wednesday, Jan. 24 against Copper Mountain, also at 5 p.m.

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