When the Dusty settles, Gauchos are OEC champs

The Saddleback men's basketball team ended any speculation of a split Orange Empire Conference title on Thursday night with a 69-56 win at Riverside City College.  Dusty Baker scored 24 points as the Gauchos clinched the outright conference title.

Saddleback entered the game with at least a share of the conference title and there wasn't much doubt among fans they would eventually walk away with the outright title.  The Gauchos ended any small-talk around the water cooler by taking control early and never relenting against a Riverside program that provided the Gauchos with their only conference loss of the year.

Dusty Baker drilled a three-pointer on Saddleback's opening possession for a 3-0 lead and the Gauchos never trailed the entire game.  Saddleback built the lead to 33-25 at the half as sharpshooters Baker and Andrew Bournes combined for 19 points while the defense forced 10 turnovers and held the Tigers to 36% shooting.

The second half started in nearly identical fashion, with Bournes connecting from long range on the second possession to make the lead 11.  The long-range jumper would mark the beginning of the end for Riverside.  By the time the Tigers finally scored in the second half the Gaucho lead was 23 as RCC failed to score a point in the first six minutes of the half.  Riverside was 0-for-5 with four turnovers to start the second frame while the Saddleback offense was dissecting the Tiger defense. 

Baker would finish with 15 points in the second half alone as Riverside's only option was to foul and hope the Gauchos would go cold at the free throw line.  Baker made 8-of-8 and Saddleback connected on 22-of-31 for the half, silencing a partisan RCC crowd that had hopes of a second win against the conference champs.

For Saddleback, it was the fourth straight Orange Empire Conference title and the fifth in the seven-year, Andy Ground era.  The Gauchos are 66-13 in OEC play since Ground arrived, never finishing worse than 9-3.

Saddleback (27-2, 10-1) will host Orange Coast College on Wednesday to end the regular season before awaiting playoff news next weekend.  The Gauchos are expected to be a top-4 seed for the Southern California playoffs, which would likely have them hosting game the following Saturday.  Keep it posted to saddlebackgauchos.com for all the latest news surrounding the men's basketball team.