Mens basketball: OCC falls, 104-75

Joseph Boo

IRVINE - Friday was one of those days where staying in bed would

have been best for Orange Coast College’s mens basketball team. Instead,

it traveled to Irvine Valley College and lost in a listless performance,

104-75, in an Orange Empire Conference game.

“For me, it was disappointing that we did not come out with the proper

intensity in the first half,” OCC Coach Mark Hill said.

The game went downhill from the start for OCC. The Pirates (12-7, 1-3 in

conference) shot 25.9% in the first half, compared to IVC’s 57.5%. That

pretty much summed up the game, as the Lasers (13-7, 2-2) went up, 57-31,

at halftime.

OCC’s shooting improved slightly to 36.6% in the second half, but so did

IVC’s. It shot 61.5% to extend its lead. The Lasers’ 6-feet-8 forward

Mike Ahmed was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring 29 points on 12-for-14

shooting, with most of his field goals coming from dunks and layins. And

he didn’t even start.

“We had an awful first half in terms of intensity,” Hill said.

“Especially defensively, we were real flat. And Irvine is such a good

team, it’s real difficult to come back against them.

For OCC, Jeff Beeler scored 17 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Duc Nguyen also

scored 17 each, and off the bench, David Castleton had 16 points. But

they shot a combined 15 for 42. Dave Elliott, who scored 12 and grabbed

nine rebounds, was the only OCC player to shoot over 50%, going 4 for 7.

This is the Pirates’ third conference loss in a row, and that has Hill

chomping a bit.

“This game was very important,” he said. “They’re a mirror’s image of us,

and both of both of us are fighting for survival.”

And on Friday, IVC’s survival skills were a little better than OCC’s.

ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE

Irvine Valley College 104, OCC 75

OCC - Beeler 17, Nguyen 17, Elliott 12, Earl 8, Hagedorn 2, Castleton 16,

Rivera 3, Denson 0, Walters 0.

3-pt. goals - Nguyen 2, Castleton 2, Beeler 1.

Fouled out - Hagedorn.

Technicals - Hagedorn 1.

IVC - Sanchez 14, Rice 10, Ellis 9, Garrett 9, Soobzokov 8, Ahmed 29,

McGhee 14, Sufi 7, Goebel 2, Bozek 2.

3-pt. goals - Sanchez 3, McGhee 2, Rice 1, Sufi 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Halftime - 57-31, IVC