Three’s a charm

The Saddleback men's basketball team advanced to the Orange Empire Conference Tournament consolation championship game with a 62-54 win over Riverside City College on Wednesday night inside the gymnasium.  It was the first victory for the Bobcats over the Tigers in three tries this season.

Saddleback started slowly as RCC jumped out to an 17-8 lead over the first 11.5 minutes of the game.  The lead remained between 6-10 until the final four minutes when Saddleback finally made a run.  The Bobcats got a three-pointer from Xerian Anderson at the 3:52 mark to cut the deficit to 21-18.  On the next possession Ryan Huston connected from long range and the Bobcats tied the game with 3:24 left on the clock.  The two teams played in tight the rest of the way as Riverside carried a 28-27 lead into the locker room at the intermission.

Saddleback came out of the locker room with a different intensity.  The Bobcats scored on the opening possession when T.J. Tittelfitz scored on a layup to give Saddleback the lead.   The Bobcats would never trail again, outscoring the Tigers 16-8 to start the half. 

Jackson Gray scored the next basket when he buried a shot from long range to give the Cats a 32-28 lead with 19:09 remaining in the game.  It was the start of a big half for Gray (pictured), who had 11 points in the second half. 

Saddleback increased the lead to eight at 48-40 after David Mitchell made a layup for the Bobcats.  Riverside City then whittled away at the lead, cutting their deficit to 52-50 after Christian Warren went to the basket and made a layup.  That would be as close as the Tigers would get as Saddleback extended the lead to eight in the final minute after Gray made a pair of free throws. 

Saddleback is now 12-16 overall and 6-10 in conference play following the win.  The Bobcats will play again on Friday night in the consolation championship game against the winner of Orange Coast College and Irvine Valley College.