COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Rancho Santiago Knocks Off Saddleback

In the end, the road and Rancho Santiago were too much for Saddleback.

The Gauchos, playing their third consecutive road game, were beaten by the Dons, 78-72, in a Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game Friday in Santa Ana.

Saddleback had won at Fullerton Jan. 20, then took over first place with an 84-72 victory at Riverside Wednesday.

But Friday, Rancho Santiago made it a three-team title chase by playing an inspired final 13 1/2 minutes.

The Dons’ victory stopped Saddleback’s 14-game winning streak and moved them within one game of Riverside and Saddleback (20-4, 7-1), who are tied for first. Rancho Santiago is 18-7, 6-2.

“What can I say, that was a great win for us,� Rancho Santiago Coach Dana Pagett said.

Said Saddleback Coach Bill Brummel: “I think it was a little bit of a letdown. We talked about it in practice (Thursday). We played pretty hard but they played very well.�

The first half was marked by tough defense and the teams were tied, 26-26. Saddleback finally found its pace and moved out to a 44-34 lead when Eric Ambrozich made a short jumper with 13 minutes 55 seconds left.

Nick Holt started the Rancho Santiago comeback with six consecutive points. His basket with 10:23 left gave the Dons their first lead of the second half, 50-49.

Anthony Carter later scored off a drive keyed by a steal by Caleb Ashley to put Saddleback ahead, 54-53, with 8:15 left. It was the Gauchos’ last lead.

Jon Surface made a three-pointer with 3:21 left to put Rancho Santiago ahead, 68-62, with 3:21 left, then the Dons were 10 of 10 from the free-throw line the rest of the way.

Rancho Santiago finished 22 of 24 on free throws.

Holt finished with 21 and Surface 12, 10 in the second half, for the Dons, who had already lost to Saddleback twice this season. Saddleback beat Rancho Santiago, 80-54, in the Jan. 4 conference opener.

Surface had missed the Jan. 4 game at Saddleback because of flooding near his Garden Grove home.

Ambrozich had 24 and Micah Kroeger added 18 for Saddleback. Carter finished with 15 after getting a career-high 43 in the Riverside victory.

“We played the last 10 minutes really hard,� Holt said. “We needed this one really bad.�

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In other conference games:

Riverside 88, Cypress 65--Gil Gonzales had three three-pointers to give him a Cypress-single season record 107. He passed Brian Kenney, his current teammate, who set the mark last season. David Neal had 13 for the host Chargers (14-13, 1-7). Sean White had 18 for Riverside (23-3, 7-1).

Irvine Valley 89, Fullerton 87 (OT)--Host Irvine Valley (17-9, 5-3) went on a 10-0 run to start overtime, then hung on. Keon Clark had 31 points and 16 rebounds for Irvine Valley. Clark had 35 points and 16 rebounds as the Lasers beat Golden West, 93-68, Wednesday.

Brian Linsenmeyer had 18 for Irvine Valley, including a key three-pointer in overtime.

Jason Cunningham had 32 for Fullerton (11-14, 2-6).

Golden West 88, Orange Coast 83--Rod Scheuerman scored 31 points and Michael Dean had 25 and seven assists for host Golden West (8-16, 2-6). Dean scored 14 points in the first eight minutes of the game.

Damion Morbley scored 29 points, making 10 of 15 field goals for Orange Coast (10-14, 2-6).