Orange County Community College Basketball : Cypress Beats Orange Coast, 69-61

Don Johnson, Cypress College basketball coach, took a chance that paid off Saturday night as the Chargers defeated Orange Coast, 69-61, in an Orange Empire Conference game at Costa Mesa.

Cypress sophomore Andy Olivarez, Orange County’s leading scorer, was on the bench after getting his fourth foul less than two minutes into second half.

Olivarez had company. Chris Brodowski also was on the bench with four fouls.

On the court, Cypress was passing the ball around, without anyone seeming really interested in shooting, and OCC had come back after being behind by 10 to tie the game, 50-50.

So Johnson gambled and put Olivarez and Brodowski back in with almost nine minutes left. A minute later, Olivarez was back on the bench, having fouled out with 6:30 left.

Brodowski was able to avoid getting his final foul and made both ends of two one-and-one free-throw opportunities in the final two minutes to clinch the victory.

“Without Andy (Olivarez), our offense sometimes lacks motion,” Johnson said. “He is one of our better motion players and we need him on the court. Chris (Brodowski) was playing well at the post and we needed him out there also.”

Brodowski finished with a team-high 16 points, eight in each half. Olivarez, who was averaging 25.2 points and who scored 36 when Cypress defeated OCC in overtime earlier this season, scored eight, six in the first half.

“I wasn’t worried about fouling out,” Brodowski said. “When you think about it that’s when it happens. I was more scared about the third free throw (the front end of a one-and-one with 51 seconds and Cypress leading, 61-58). My right leg was shaking but I knew I had to put the shot down.”

The victory kept Cypress (4-2, 16-11) in a second-place tie with Saddleback, which also won Saturday. Both teams are two games behind conference leading Rancho Santiago with four games left. OCC (2-4, 20-7) fell into a fourth-place tie with Citrus.

With Olivarez out of the offense for the most part, Cypress got clutch baskets from a variety of players. Reserve guard Greg Spruell made consecutive 10-foot jump shots and finished with four points; reserve center Dave Kotzin also scored four points.

Starting guard Jim Sammon, who didn’t score in the first half, scored eight points in the second half, all in the final 13:36.

Orange Coast got an outstanding offensive performance from forward Rob Mase in the first half when he scored 15 points. Mase scored four in the second half to finish with a game-high 19. Teammate Mike Kelly had 15.

The Pirates were without starting center Matt Judd for most of the game after he and Cypress guard John Jackson were ejected for fighting.

Rancho Santiago 100, Riverside 66--The Dons, the top-ranked team in Southern California, increased their school-record winning streak to 17 at Santa Ana.

Howard Cole scored 15 points and Chris Jefferson, Victor Wharton and Brent Martin 12 each. The Dons are 6-0, 24-3.

Tony Evans scored 12 for the Tigers (0-6, 12-18).

Saddleback 71, Citrus 60--The Gauchos trailed, 29-21, with 5:42 left in the first half and scored the final eight points to tie the game, 29-29, at the half. Mike Minier scored 21 points, 14 in the second half, as the Gauchos (4-2, 19-6) went on to win. Minier had scored 14 points in his previous three games.

Vincent Smalls scored 22 for Saddleback.

Kevin Kurz scored a game-high 28 points for the Owls (2-4, 13-11).