Orange County Community College Basketball : Rancho Santiago Turns It On Against OCC for 13th Straight

Rancho Santiago College outscored Orange Coast, 14-4, in the final 4:23 to post an 80-67 Orange Empire Conference victory Saturday night in Santa Ana.

The victory was the 13th straight for the Dons (2-0, 19-3).

Rancho Santiago led, 66-63, when the Dons called timeout after the Pirates (0-2, 18-5) had scored five consecutive points.

Rancho Santiago center Brent Martin started the ensuing run with a layup following the timeout. Martin scored four more points in the final minute, including a dunk, and finished with 16. He also had a game-high 9 rebounds.

Forward Chris Jackson led Rancho Santiago with 21 points and teammate Chris Jefferson added 16.

The inside play of Martin and Jackson has taken on added importance in the last week for the Dons because of the knee injury to sophomore forward Howard Cole last Saturday. Cole was averaging 16.4 points a game and is expected to be out at least another week.

Rancho Santiago opened leads of 20-8 and 22-10 in the first half, but Orange Coast outscored the Dons, 27-13, in the final 11 minutes to take a 37-35 halftime lead.

Rob Mase and Mike Kelly scored 16 points each for OCC, and teammate Matt Judd added 14.

--STEVE KRESAL

Saddleback 55, Riverside 36--Mike Minier scored 12 points and Vincent Smalls added 11 to lead the Gauchos (2-0, 17-4) at Saddleback College.

Riverside (0-2, 12-14) was led by Mike Stewart’s 16 points and Aaron Rounds, who had 10 points and 6 rebounds.

El Camino 66, Fullerton 62--Kirkland Howling led the Warriors with 14 points and David Lee added 12 points and 9 rebounds in a victory at El Camino. Troy Joseph led Fullerton with 13 points.