Cats bounce back to beat rivals

The Saddleback men's basketball team defeated Irvine Valley College, 60-54, on Friday night in Irvine.  The win moves the Bobcats into a tie for fourth place in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC).

Saddleback was coming off a disappointing performance against Cypress College on Wednesday and had little time to get in the right frame of mind to take on their inter-district rivals from Irvine Valley. Whatever the Bobcats did worked, as Saddleback turned aside an IVC squad that was three games above .500 entering the night.

Saddleback had a big night from David Mitchell, who finished with a game-high 21 points.  Mitchell was 6-of-14 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line, consistently breaking down the Laser defense.

Saddleback jumped out to a 10-4 lead thanks in large part to Mitchell and T.J. Tittelfitz.  The duo made four baskets over the first 4:20, which was in stark contrast to what happened on Wednesday night when the Bobcats had zero points in the first five minutes and only six points through the first 11 minutes of play. 

Saddleback held a 33-31 lead on Irvine Valley at the intermission as Mitchell scored 11 points in the opening half and the Bobcats drilled 8-of-9 shots from the free throw line.

Mitchell and Tittelfitz opened the second half the way they opened the first, scoring the first five points for the Bobcats as Saddleback and Irvine Valley traded baskets.  The game remained tight the rest of the way, with neither team having more than a three-point lead until Mitchell dropped a jumper to give the Bobcats a 53-48 lead with 4:28 remaining. 

Irvine Valley closed to within two points with 2:16 remaining when Matt Mowers made a pair of free throws to cut the Saddleback advantage to 53-51.  Mitchell and Tittelfitz again answered with back-to-back layups as the Saddleback lead grew back to 57-51 with only 42 seconds remaining on the clock.  Saddleback then cruised across the finish line, with Xerian Anderson clinching the game with a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to stretch the lead to eight.

Saddleback controlled the game on the post in the second half, outrebounding Irvine Valley 17-11 over the final 20 minutes.  The Bobcats were also 9-of-12 from the charity stripe to finish 17-of-21 for the night. 

Saddleback is now 9-10 overall and 3-4 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The Bobcats are in a three-way tie for fourth place in conference play through the first half of the conference schedule.

Saddleback opens the second half of OEC play on Wednesday at Orange Coast College (4-16, 0-7).  The Bobcats and Pirates are scheduled to tip off at 5:00 PM in Costa Mesa.