Gauchos survive scare for spot in regional finals

The Saddleback men's basketball team won its 23^rd straight game on Wednesday night with a thrilling 64-56 overtime victory over Bakersfield College in the regional semifinals at the Saddleback Gymnasium.  The Gauchos will face East Los Angeles in the regional finals on Saturday.

Saddleback and Bakersfield entered the game with contrasting styles and many believed whoever controlled the tempo would win.  Bakersfield scored 83.8 points-per-game during the season while the Gauchos gave up a state-best 55.7.  In the end, the team that controlled the tempo won, but barely.  Bakersfield had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but a runner in the lane by Bakersfield star Jameik Riviere hung on the rim for nearly a decade before falling short and sending the game to overtime. 

Saddleback completely bottled up the Bakersfield offense in the opening half, allowing just 16 points by the Renegades who shot only 25% from the field.  The Gauchos, however, weren't much better against a quick and athletic Bakersfield defense, shooting 36% and carrying a 26-16 lead into the locker room. 

Saddleback came out cold in the second half, failing to score in the first five minutes as the Renegades cut the lead to 26-22.  The Gauchos finally broke through with a dunk by Breaon Brady to up the lead to 28-22, but it was clear that Bakersfield wasn't going to down without a fight.

Bakersfield kept chipping away at the lead as both teams seemed to find some continuity on offense.  The Renegades made a number of acrobatic shots around the basket, frustrating a Gaucho defense and cutting into the lead. 

Bakersfield finally tied the game at 37-37 when Shane Christie made a jumper with 8:52 remaining.  Less than a minute later the Renegades took their first lead of the game when DeAndre Dickson made a layup for a 39-38 advantage.

Saddleback's shooting woes continued, failing to score for nearly three minutes as Bakersfield increased the lead to 43-38 with 5:59 remaining on a three-pointer from Lawrence Moore in the corner.  The Gauchos responded by taking a timeout to try and stop the momentum.

Saddleback came out of the break and started taking the ball to the hole.  Devonte Klines was fouled while taking the ball to the basket, making one of two free throws to cut the lead to four.  On the next possession, T.J. Shorts did the same and was fouled.  Again the Gauchos made just 1-of-2 free throws, making the score 43-40 with 4:58 remaining.

Meanwhile, the Saddleback defense was clamping down, forcing Bakersfield into a number of bad shots and giving the offense a chance to get back in the game.  Brady made yet another layup on the following possession to cut the lead to 43-42, forcing Bakersfield to take a timeout.

It didn't do much good as the Renegades missed yet another shot, and Saddleback quickly fed Brady for yet another layup to grab back the lead at 44-43 with 3:39 left on the clock.

Bakersfield wasn't going to back down, grabbing back the lead with 2:11 remaining as Dickson went to the free throw line and buried both shots.  The Gauchos responded with a thunderous dunk by Lyle Hexom on an alley-oop pass from Shorts.

With the score tied at 48-48 with under a minute remaining, Bakersfield took the lead when James Pendleton made a jumper for a two-point advantage, forcing Saddleback to take a timeout and set up an offensive play.  The Gauchos responded, feeding Brady for another layup and a 50-50 tie with 24 seconds remaining.

Bakersfield dribbled the ball to half court, taking a timeout with 18.1 left on the clock.  The Renegades designed a play for Riviere, who came into the game averaging 16.7 points-per-game.  The sophomore from Georgia came within an inch of winning the game, but Saddleback breathed a sigh of relief as the ball slowly dripped off the front of the rim like a drop of water falling from a faucet.

Overtime belonged to Saddleback, as the Gauchos kept driving to the basket and creating opportunities.  Klines started the scoring with two free throws at the 3:47 mark for a 52-50 lead.  Hexom then stunned the Renegades with a three-point play with 2:36 remaining for a 55-52 lead.  Shorts followed with another layup on the following possession as the lead grew to five.

Meanwhile the defense was busy shutting down Bakersfield, keeping the Renegades off the scoreboard for a 2:24 span.  Bakersfield finally broke through with 1:09 remaining on a jumper from Sky Seay, but with a 59-54 disadvantage the damage had already been done.  A bit of carelessness with the ball allowed Bakersfield to get back within three with 46 seconds remaining, but a pair of missed shots from three-point range in the final minute sealed the fate for Bakersfield, who finished the season 24-6. 

Brady ended up with a team-high 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.  Maurice Jones provided a big spark off the bench, making 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points.  Saddleback held a 50-41 advantage on the glass, offsetting a big night from Bakersfield forward DeAndre Dickson who finished with a game-high 17 rebounds for the game.

Saddleback (29-1) will host East Los Angeles College (26-3) in the regional finals on Saturday night after the Huskies defeated Mt. San Jacinto College 71-52.  It is a rematch from the state title game a year ago when Saddleback defeated East Los Angeles, 50-47, capturing its third state title in program history.  Game time is set for 7:00 PM.