The race for the Orange Empire Conference title is shaping up to be a good one with Santiago Canyon and Riverside City set to meet on Thursday, February 13th.
The Santiago Canyon Hawks have been one of the top teams in the state ranked No. 2 with an overall record of 24-1. Their lone loss came at the hands of Fullerton College back on January 13, a 71-65 overtime battle. On Tuesday night, the Hawks avenged that loss railing the Hornets with their second highest scoring output of the season at 118-73. SCC (12-1 conference) currently sits in first place in the OEC with Riverside breathing down their neck at 12-2. In their first meeting last January 15, Santiago Canyon took down the Tigers 71-63 in a well-fought game. Winning a school record 24 games, the red-hot Hawks are in control of their own OEC destiny.
The Riverside City Tigers are currently ranked No. 18 in state after a tough loss to Irvine Valley College last week. However, RCC did rebound well with a decisive 65-55 win over Saddleback College. The Tigers have a shot at the OEC title if they can win out the rest of the regular season against Santiago Canyon and Fullerton.
It is going to be tough for the Saddleback Gauchos and Fullerton Hornets as both teams have four OEC losses and are trying to play catch-up with only two games left in the season. The Gauchos have a slight 10-4 edge over the Hornets who sit at 9-4 in the conference. Both teams will battle it out on February 22 at Fullerton College. Last season's champion, the Hornets, came into the season with a 17-game win streak and were ranked No. 2 in the state, but the injury bug hit the team hard losing four major contributors in a matter of days.
The Irvine Valley Lasers (6-6), Cypress Chargers (5-9), Santa Ana Dons (4-9), Golden West Rustlers (1-12), and Orange Coast Pirates (0-12) round out the rest of the Orange Empire Conference. Irvine boasted one of the best defenses this season beating ranked teams in Cerritos, Southwestern, and Riverside. Cypress beat ranked teams in Long Beach and Fullerton.
(Release by Phil Thurman, Men's Basketball Representative & Fullerton SID)