Community Colleges : Muller-Stach Helps Golden West Defeat Orange Coast, 76-67

Sophomore forward Markus Muller-Stach scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Golden West College to a 76-67 victory over Orange Coast Wednesday in an Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game in front of about 250 at OCC.

Orange Coast led, 32-31, at the half, but Golden West and Muller-Stach took control almost as soon as the second half started. He scored on 2 short jumpers to give Golden West a 35-34 lead. Muller-Stach was 5 of 7 from the field in the second half and 8 of 13 in the game. He was also 4 for 4 on free throws.

Golden West opened a 44-37 lead on a free throw by Carl Champion with 16:02 left only to have OCC’s Derek Johnson hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-40 20 seconds later.

But Golden West took over from there, going on a 10-0 run that included 2 baskets by Champion, who had 9 points off the bench.

“We just played really hard,” Golden West Coach Jim Greenfield said. “We’ve been playing hard all along and sometimes the breaks didn’t go our way. Now, it’s our turn to get a roll or two.”

The loss hurt OCC (19-7 overall, 4-3 in conference play) in the conference title chase. Riverside (22-8, 7-1) defeated Saddleback, 66-50, Wednesday. Cypress upset Rancho Santiago, 89-81, also Wednesday, but the Dons (15-9, 5-3) still remain in second place, 2 games behind Riverside. OCC is in third. Golden West (18-9, 3-5) is in fifth behind Cypress (12-13, 4-4).

The top three teams in the conference get automatic berths into the state playoffs, which start Feb. 24.

Golden West lost 4 of 6 games in the first round of conference play, including a 1-point loss to Riverside and a 2-point loss to OCC.

Golden West’s Kevin Anderson had 10 points. OCC’s Dareck Crane scored 14 of his team-high 18 in the second half. Johnson had 10 and LaMont Speed had 12.

In other Orange Empire Conference men’s games:

Cypress 89, Rancho Santiago 81--Rancho Santiago led by 11 at one time in each half, but Cypress took the lead for good on a rebound basket by Andre Lamoureux with 8 minutes left. Lamoureux, a freshman forward, scored a game-high 22 points.

Mike Reid had 16 points and Mike Varos 14 for Cypress. Chris Martin scored 15 points and John Guerrero 12 for Rancho Santiago.

The game was marred by fouls, 38 called on Rancho Santiago and 29 on Cypress. Cypress was 37 of 50 from the free-throw line and Rancho Santiago was 26 of 35. Rancho Santiago led, 40-34, at the half and built it up to, 58-47, on a basket by Tony Smalley with 13:30 left before Cypress started to rally.

Riverside 66, Saddleback 50--Saddleback cut the lead to 47-44 on a 3-pointer by Wun Versher with 8 minutes left but Riverside went on an 11-2 run.

Bradd Heckman scored 13 and Vincent Mason 12 for Saddleback (10-14, 3-5). Heckman was 9 for 10 from the free-throw line. Cory Arnett scored 19 for Riverside, which has won 6 in a row since being upset by Saddleback in the first round.

Bobby Joyce of Riverside was ejected after being called for double technical foul after a lose-ball foul was called on him midway in the second half.

In an Orange Empire Conference women’s game:

Golden West 104, Orange Coast 62--DeeDee Steigar scored 19 points and Stephanie Swanson 18 to lead host Golden West (11-15, 5-1).