Cats take over fourth place

The Saddleback men's basketball team moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Orange Empire Conference with a 62-53 victory over Orange Coast College on Wednesday night in Costa Mesa.  The Bobcats led from start to finish.

Saddleback started quickly, jumping out to a 12-2 lead over the first 7.5 minutes of the game.  The defense was fierce, holding Orange Coast to 1-of-11 shooting while forcing the Pirates into three turnovers over that span.

Saddleback cruised into the locker room with a 31-13 lead at the intermission, with David Mitchell and T.J. Tittelfitz both scoring eight points apiece.  The Bobcats also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Pirates 20-14 over the first 20 minutes with Xerian Anderson collecting a team-high five rebounds in the opening half. 

Orange Coast chiseled away at the lead and got within 10 points at 42-32 with 11:57 remaining in the game after Ronnie Davis made a layup.  The Bobcats quick turned aside thoughts of a comeback as they rattled off five straight points to get the lead back to 15.  Saddleback would eventually increase the lead back to 18 with three minutes remaining when Mitchell made a layup for a 58-40 advantage.  The Bobcats cruised across the finish line for a nine-point win.

Mitchell finished with a team-high 16 points, going 8-for-8 at the free throw line.  Tittelfitz finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.  Anderson would finish with a team-high nine rebounds as the Bobcats finished with a 44-33 advantage on the glass.

Saddleback is now 10-10 overall and 4-4 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The Bobcats are now alone in fourth place in the conference standings, one game back of third-place Cypress.

Saddleback will try to win a third straight game when it travels to Santiago Canyon College to take on the Hawks on Friday night.  Saddleback and Santiago Canyon are scheduled to tip off at 6:00 PM in Orange.