Community college men’s basketball: OCC men outlasted, 60-56

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College men’s basketball team is a

group of nice guys. But that’s not good enough in the Orange Empire

Conference or in the sport, Pirates’ Coach Steve Spencer said after a

60-56 loss to visiting Cypress Wednesday.

The Pirates (6-19, 3-8 in the Orange Empire Conference) crumbled in

the clutch. After OCC sophomore guard Ryan Webster hit a 15-foot jump

shot to tie the game, 56-56, with 0:52 left, freshman guard Stephon

Seales stole the ball and was fouled. Then came the crumbling.

Seales missed the front end of the one-and-one with 0:46 left. Cypress

rebounded and D. Jay Lucas later scored down low for the lead with 0:30

remaining.

Seales penetrated the Chargers’ defense and found reserve freshman

forward Thomas Taylor open for a three-pointer. But Taylor’s shot bounced

off the back of the rim and 5-foot-10 sophomore Tony Senteno, the

smallest player on the court, grabbed the rebound for the Chargers

(12-15, 3-8).

Senteno, who nailed a three-pointer just inside the half-court line as

time expired to give the Chargers a 92-89 Jan. 18, sank both free throws

with nine seconds left for the win.

“We just got outcoached and outplayed,” Spencer said. “We didn’t

execute toward the end and we played a step behind. We just have to keep

working and come back here to beat Fullerton (Friday at 7:30 p.m.)

Everyone has to get tougher and everyone needs to work more. We have to

want it more.”

Webster led the Pirates, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the second

half, while Brian Williams came off the bench to score all nine of his

points in the first half. OCC tied Cypress, 31-31, at halftime.

Lucas scored a game-high 21 points and the Chargers also used a

free-throw advantage to grab the win. They went 20 for 29 from the foul

line (69%). The Pirates were 11 of 15 (73%).