Gauchos win in the 909 for 16th straight

The Saddleback men's basketball team won its 16^th straight game with a 72-58 victory at Riverside City College on Wednesday night in Riverside.  The Gauchos opened up an 18-point lead at half and led from start to finish.

Saddleback scored the first 12 points of the game, essentially locking up the Tigers in a cage and never giving them a chance to hunt.  The Gauchos held Riverside scoreless through the first 5:35 of the game with smothering defense, forcing the Tigers into six turnovers to open the game while committing four fouls and missing every shot they took.

Meanwhile, Saddleback was off and running behind T.J. Shorts, Breaon Brady, Lyle Hexom and Kevin Miller.  The four combined for 30 points in the opening frame, making 11-of-16 shots from the field in the half.  Shorts led the charge with 11 but it was the defense that was the catalyst, blocking five shots in the defensive end while outrebounding the Tigers 19-14 on the glass and forcing nine turnovers.

Brady scored a lay-up to open the second half to drive the lead to 20 before Riverside would make a run.  The Tigers cut the lead to seven at 46-39 as the Gauchos couldn't find the bottom of the net.  Riverside made 7-of-8 shots over a 4:45 span while Saddleback was 1-for-4 with four turnovers.  It was as close as the Tigers would get over the next eight minutes as the teams traded baskets with the lead hovering between six and 11 points. 

Riverside sliced the lead to five with a pair of Kevin Miller free throws at the 6:36 mark before Saddleback went on a run to put the game on ice.  After Hexom made a lay-up to start the rally and the defense was re-energized.  Riverside went 4:45 without a point as the Gauchos opened a 68-53 lead with under two minutes remaining.  It was a 10-0 run as Saddleback made four lay-ups and a pair of free throws with the Tigers running out of gas.  Shorts then scored four straight points in the closing minutes to drive the lead back up to 17, leaving no doubt about the outcome in the final minute.

Brady finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, also finishing with 10 rebounds.  Shorts and Hexom both finished with 17 points, with Hexom collecting a team-high 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. 

The win pushed Saddleback's record to 22-1 overall and 7-0 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Gauchos hold a one-game lead over Fullerton College and lead Cypress College by 1.5 games in the Orange Empire Conference standings with five games remaining.  Saddleback will play at Cypress on Friday night at 7:00 PM.

The 16-game winning streak is the longest for the Saddleback program since winning 16-straight last season.  The longest winning streak in program history was back in 1979-80 when the Gauchos won 34-straight games during a 34-1 season, losing in the state semifinals.