Gauchos cruise in home opener

The Saddleback men's basketball team opened the home schedule on Friday night with a 58-31 win over Southwestern College.  The Gauchos stifled the Jaguars with intense defense.

Saddleback opened up a big lead in the first half, heading into the locker room with a 27-8 lead.  Southwestern couldn't by a basket, shooting just 15% from the field in the opening half.  T.J. Shorts led Saddleback in the opening half, scoring seven points while dishing out three assists.

Southwestern finally made a run to start the second half as Saddleback fell into a cold spell.  The Jaguars narrowed the lead to 31-25 as Richard Grove found his range from downtown. 

Saddleback then righted the ship, going on a big run to put the game out of reach.  The Gauchos went on a 27-6 run over the final 10 minutes, emptying the bench against the Jaguars. 

Shorts finished with 14 points and six assists to lead the way.  Justin Faison and Jake Hawes contributed eight points each while Breaon Brady led the Gauchos in rebounds with nine. 

Saddleback improved to 7-2 with the win while Southwestern dropped to 2-9 on the year.  The Gauchos will play next on December 7 in the 45^th annual Riverside Holiday Tournament.  Saddleback will tip off at 1:00 PM against the winner of East Los Angeles and Victor Valley, who play on the 6^th of December.