Gauchos hang on against IVC

The Saddleback men's basketball team defeated Irvine Valley College 61-57 on Wednesday night to run its winning streak to 15 games.  Dusty Baker clinched the game with two free throws in the final two seconds.

Saddleback entered on a roll and was expected to score a big win over an Irvine Valley program that entered the game at .500 on the season.  The Lasers had other plans, keeping within an arms length before making a final push with a chance to win the game.  Irvine Valley came up short when forward Andrew Bastien missed an easy bank shot in an attempt to tie the game with two seconds remaining and the Gauchos gobbled up the rebound to put the final nail in the coffin.

Saddleback had as much as a 13-point lead in the second half but a flurry of turnovers combined with a couple of bench technicals led to a tight game down the stretch.  In the end, Baker closed the door with two free throws in the final 1.2 seconds and the Lasers walked away knowing they had missed out on an opportunity to defeat the top-rated team in the state. 

Conor Clifford led Saddleback with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.  Clifford, however, had an unusually quiet night on the boards, collecting just two rebounds.  Picking up the slack on the glass for the Gauchos was Andrew Bournes and Baker, who both finished with seven rebounds for the night.  Baker also added 13 points with a number of key free throws down the stretch while Bournes had 10 points in the win.

The win gives Saddleback (20-1, 3-0) 15-straight wins since last losing on November 16.  It is the longest winning streak since winning 17 straight during the 2012-13 campaign.

Saddleback will play again on Friday when it travels to Fullerton College to take on the Hornets.  Tip time is scheduled for 7:00 PM.