COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Spratt Helps Orange Coast Overcome Slow Start, Santa Barbara

Sophomore Brian Spratt scored 16 points as Orange Coast College defeated Santa Barbara, 63-44, in the first round of the Denny’s/Miles Eaton Tournament Thursday at Orange Coast.

OCC got off to a slow start, failing to score in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game, but Santa Barbara only led, 2-0. OCC rallied to lead at the half, 19-17.

Santa Barbara failed to score in the first six minutes of the second half and OCC built its lead to 29-17.

OCC plays Long Beach tonight at 8 in a semifinal game.

In the Grossmont tournament:

Rancho Santiago 104, San Diego Mesa 80--Center Corie Blount had 27 points, 11 rebounds and five steals to lead Rancho Santiago (6-1) in the first round. Forward Erik Martin added 24 points and nine rebounds for Rancho Santiago, which plays Grossmont tonight at 9 in the second round. It was the fifth time in seven games that Rancho Santiago has scored 100 or more points.

In the Antelope Valley tournament:

Palomar 88, Golden West 83--Tom Dever scored 27 points, Ric Van Scoyoc 16 and Scott Campbell 13, but Golden West (3-5) was eliminated from the tournament. Palomar is 1-6.

In the Cypress women’s tournament:

Orange Coast 79, MiraCosta 28--Erika Manning scored 16 points, Stacey Giem 12 and Judy Gettys 10 for OCC (5-2), which led, 35-11, at the half. MiraCosta is 0-5.

Grossmont 68, Cypress 65 (OT)--Jackie Boxley scored 26 points and Heidi Sorour added 20 for Cypress (0-6). Grossmont is 4-3. Boxley forced overtime with seven seconds remaining on a free throw that tied the score at 61-61.