#11 Men's Basketball pushed to 2OT before defeating Santa Ana, 102-100
| Final | 1 | 2 | OT | 2OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santa Ana (6-5, 0-0) | 41 | 46 | 8 | 5 | 100 |
|
Moorpark (10-3, 0-0) | 35 | 52 | 8 | 7 | 102 |
After a 9 day lay-off, the #11 Raiders finally got back on the court hosting Santa Ana and the 9 days of rust showed. The Dons gave the Raiders all they could handle pushing the game to 2OTs. With the win, the Raiders are now 10-3 on the year.
Fr. Avi Halpert led all scorers with 42 points with 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Jeremiah Windam added 21 points with 5 rebounds. Jamaal Unuakalu had a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jack Benyshek added 12 points playing limited minutes as he picked up 2 quick fouls to early in the game.
The theme of the first half was struggle. The Raiders offense struggled to score 7 point in the first 5 minutes as Santa Ana built a 18-7 lead. The Don's lead grew to 13 points with 8:35 remaining. The Raiders kept the score close before cutting the lead to 6 to end the half, trailing 41-35.
The second half started slowly but the Raiders took the lead with just under 15 minutes to go using a 16-10 run. From there, the Raiders controled the second boosting their lead to 10 points 4:35 remaining. The Dons cut the lead to 1 with under a minute left. With :06 left Halpert made two free throws to make the score 87-83, seemingly icing the game. BUT, Santa Ana's Cam Johnson drove the lane, missed the lay-up, West Mac put the miss back up, 87-85. Mac then stole Unuakalu's throw in, bucket, 87-87, end of regulation.
In the first OT, Santa Ana led most of the period, but missed a chance to put the game away. Halpert made two free-throws to tie the game 95-95.
The second OT again went back and forth until Halpert's 3 pointer with 1:03 minutes left to give the Raiders their final lead, 101-100. Santa Ana ran the the clock with their last shot rattling off the rim and Windham was fouled with :11 left. Windham made 1 of 2 free-throws. The Don's last shot banked off the rim, 102-100.
Before taking their Christmas break, the Raiders will next play in the Clete Adelman Classic hosted by Mira Costa College. They will open with SD Miramar on Thursday, 12/21 before taking on host Mira Costa, Friday, 12/22.
