Community College Basketball : OCC Can’t Handle Pressure : Rancho Santiago Wins With Defense

Rancho Santiago College used a pressing defense to force 21 turnovers and went on to a 71-49 victory over Orange Coast Saturday in an Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game at OCC.

OCC was unable to inbound the ball six times because of the Dons’ defense. OCC turned the ball over three times on five counts and had to call timeout three more times.

Orange Coast compounded the sloppy floor play with poor shooting, hitting 39% (17 of 44) from the field.

Rancho Santiago (17-5, 2-0) turned it over 18 times but shot 55% (32 of 58).

All five Rancho Santiago starters scored in double figures, led by guard Kenny Ammann’s 14 points. Chris Martin had 13, and Alonzo Jamison, Ralph Garcia and Tony Samlley scored 10 each.

David Miles scored 18 points and Mike Meyers scored 10 for OCC (13-11, 0-2).

“We played defense with a great deal of intensity,” Dana Pagett, Rancho Santiago coach, said. “OCC is a very talented team, and we were up for the game. We knew it was a big game for us.”

Neither team was able to take more than a four-point lead in the first 13 minutes of the game.

Rancho Santiago led, 21-19, with 6:15 left in the half. OCC didn’t score for the next 4 minutes as Rancho Santiago took a 29-19 lead with 2:15 left. Rancho Santiago led, 31-21, at the half.

In other Orange Empire Conference games:

Cypress 66, Citrus 51--Sophomore forward John Jackson, starting his third game of the season, had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Cypress (18-5, 2-0) at Citrus. Jackson has replaced John Vranes. who broke his arm last month.

Jeff Green scored 14 points and guard Greg Spruell 12 for Cypress which shot 40% from the field, but made 16 of 19 free throws. Citrus (5-15, 0-2) was led by Jim Skinner with 15 points.

Saddleback 73, Riverside 50--Saddleback took advantage of 13 first-half Riverside turnovers to open a 35-19 halftime lead at Riverside. Renny Ingram had 19 points for Saddleback (14-6, 2-0) which won its eighth consecutive game. Ingram, a sophomore guard, 8 of 13 from the field and 3 of 7 on three-pointers. Vincent Smalls added 15 points, Terrell Malone 11, and John Waikle and Joe Hudson 10 each for Saddleback.

Riverside (10-12, 0-2) had 22 turnovers and Saddleback 8 including just two in the first half.

In the South Coast Conference:

Golden West 69, Pasadena 68--Golden West, which had lost 22 consecutive conference games and 48 of its last 49, won at home over Pasadena, which is the sixth-ranked team in the state. Pasadena’s Tommie Dunham missed a 24-foot shot with two seconds remaining. The Rustlers (11-9, 1-3) were paced by freshman guard Elbert Davis with 15 points, and freshman forward Markus Muller-Stach added 12. Kirk Wagner and Tommie Dunham each scored 24 points for Pasadena (14-5, 2-2).

Fullerton 84, Compton 73--Troy Joseph scored 21 points and had 5 rebounds to lead host Fullerton in an upset of Compton, the ninth-ranked team in the state. Geoff Adams scored 16, Roy Joseph and Darrin Queen 12 each Kellie McKinney 11 for Fullerton (11-8, 2-2). Gilbert Miller scored 25 and Vincent Camper 23 for Compton which had only one assist in the game. Fullerton had 10. Compton is 13-6, 2-2.