Men’s basketball: Pirates lose third straight

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - A third straight loss and inept defensive pressure

prompted Orange Coast College men’s basketball Coach Mark Hill to say,

“We are at our lowest point.”

Hill’s statement resulted from his Pirates’ 97-84 Orange Empire

Conference loss to visiting Irvine Valley Friday night.

Bucs’ sophomore guard Nick Burwell finished with a game-high 21 points

and 13 rebounds, but shot 7 of 20 from the field and 3 of 13 from

three-point land. The Lasers had six players score in double figures and

led by as many as 21. “This is our biggest win in conference.” IVC Coach

Jerry Hernandez said.

Coast (14-9, 5-3 in conference) cut its 21-point deficit to six after

Jeremy Madrid (eight points) converted a three-point play with 1:34

remaining.

But, the Lasers (13-12, 2-5) made 15 of 18 free throws down the

stretch to maintain control.

“Defense,” Hill said of OCC’s problem. “We’re not stopping anybody

from scoring. We made our run early in the conference by holding teams to

less than 40% from the field and we’re just not doing that now.”

The Lasers shot 43% from the field, but shot 50% in the first half as

they built a 52-36 lead. IVC broke away from a 12-12 tie to outscore the

Bucs, 12-2, over the next three minutes.

Then, with 10 minutes remaining before halftime, the Lasers took

advantage of OCC’s lack of defense for a 10-1 run and a 39-19 lead.

“A lot of it is attitude,” Hill said of OCC’s three-game skid. “You

have the tendency to think you are better than what you are, especially

when you have a five-game winning streak. You forget what got you there

and what got us there was just being hard-nosed defensively. We’re not

doing that.”

Before the first half ended, OCC jumped back in the game with a 13-4

run as Chad Hagedorn (14 points), Ryan Earl (18) and Burwell led the

charge.

IVC, however, built its lead back up to 21 with 12 minutes remaining

as the Pirates couldn’t stop the Lasers’ offensive onslaught. The teams

traded baskets until OCC went on a 25-11 run covering nine minutes.

But, the Lasers had too much of a lead to overcome.

“The last three games, we’ve started in the hole,” Hill said. “Until

the defense is corrected, this is going to continue to be a problem for

us.”

IVC was led by Ali Goodman who scored 19 points. Lasers’ forward Chet

Johnson (15) disrupted Burwell’s shots, while 6-foot-9 center Mike Ahmad

controlled the inside and scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

“We’ve been a team that has underachieved this year,” Hernandez said.

“We need to make a push in this second round to get back in there.”

OCC had beaten the Lasers on Jan. 4, 72-66, when the Pirates focused

on their defense to gain points on transition. During the Bucs’

three-game losing streak, they have allowed 82, 106 and 97 points.

Coast will try to end the losing Wednesday at Cypress 7:30 p.m.

“It’s just a matter of finding out if we have it within ourselves to

get ourselves out of the hole,” Hill said.

ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE

Irvine Valley 97, Orange Coast 84

Irvine Valley - Johnson 15, Goodman 13, Ferguson 19, McGhee 15,

Broussard 10, Ahmad 18, Walls 3, Dinh 4.

3-pt. goals - Ferguson 1, McGhee 1, Johnson 1.

Fouled out - Goodman, Walls.

Technicals - none.

Orange Coast - Labistre 2, Earl 18, Oliver 7, Webster 11, Madrid 8,

McKinney 1, Meyers 2, Hagedorn 14, Burwell 21.

3-pt. goals - Burwell 3, Webster 1, Earl 2.

Fouled out - Labistre, Webster, Earl, Hagedorn.

Technicals - none.

Halftime - Irvine Valley, 52-36