COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Saddleback Upsets Cypress in Basketball

Saddleback College pulled off its second upset in eight days with an 80-70 victory over Cypress in an Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game at Saddleback.

A week ago, Saddleback knocked off first-place Rancho Santiago, 82-77, to stop the Dons’ 22-game winning steak. This time it was second-place Cypress that failed to end Saddleback’s unbeaten status at home.

Saddleback (15-11, 6-4 in conference) is 9-0 at home. The Gauchos are third in conference.

Both teams started slowly Wednesday, but Saddleback recovered and Cypress didn’t. Cypress held a 29-25 lead with 4 minutes 42 seconds left before Saddleback outscored the Chargers, 12-2, before halftime.

Saddleback led by as many as 16 points, 60-44, with 11:30 left in the game, and Cypress got only as close as eight the rest of the way.

Greg Reynolds scored a team-high 19 points for Saddleback. Eric Pauley had 23 points for Cypress (19-10, 6-3), which shot 46% (27 for 59). Cypress made only four of 18 three-pointers.