COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Rancho Santiago Gets Back to Winning Ways

Rancho Santiago College, coming off its first loss since late November, rolled past Golden West, 87-78, in an Orange Empire Conference basketball game Saturday in Huntington Beach.

The final score was a bit deceptive. Rancho Santiago (26-2, 8-1 in conference) led by as many 24 in the first half and by 25 in the second. Golden West scored the last 14 points to make it look respectable.

The Golden West rally was similar to one in the teams’ first meeting this season, when the Rustlers scored the final 15 points and lost, 88-72.

Rancho Santiago had a 22-game winning streak until last Wednesday, when the Dons were defeated at Saddleback, 82-77. Rancho Santiago had two inspired practices after that but still looked uneven at best in the first nine minutes Saturday.

Rancho Santiago led, 16-14, with 11:47 left in the half. From there, the Dons went on a 29-7 run and to take a 45-21.

But Golden West fought back and outscored Rancho Santiago, 12-2, to close to within 47-33 at halftime.

Erik Martin had a game-high 21 points, 15 in the first half, for Rancho Santiago. Corie Blount added 16, Brett Pagett and Daryl Cole 15. All of Pagett’s points came on three-pointers. Martin and Blount each had 11 rebounds.

Scott Campbell’s 19 points, 14 in the first half, were the team high for Golden West. Tom Dever had 16, Ric Van Scoyoc and Jason Vaughan 12 each and Paig Parish 11 for the Rustlers.

In other conference games:

Riverside 72, Saddleback 68--Saddleback (14-11, 5-4) faltered at Riverside after its upset of first-place Rancho Santiago Wednesday.

Saddleback, which shot 34%, fell behind, 37-24, at the half before rallying and setting up a chance to tie with 17 seconds left.

But Ray Ankton’s inbounds pass went out of bounds. Riverside’s Duke Sutton was fouled with 15 seconds left and missed both free throws, but Saddleback’s Edmond Johnson missed a three-pointer, and Sutton got the rebound. He made one of two free throws to give the Tigers (16-13, 3-5) the four-point lead with five seconds.

Fullerton 81, Orange Coast 72--Garry Hunter scored 28 points, 18 in the second half, as Fullerton (14-13, 3-6) moved out of last place with the victory at OCC. Bob Terry added 21, and Kenny Cross had 14 for Fullerton.

Agustin Heredia scored 23 points, and Brian Spratt added 17 and 11 rebounds for OCC, which shot only 36% from the field. OCC made only two field goals in the first 12 minutes but trailed by four points, 33-29, at halftime. Fullerton pulled away at the start of the second half, although OCC was as close as six points, 59-53, with 12 minutes left.