COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL : Saddleback Has First Place to Itself

Saddleback spent the first half celebrating with high fives, then had to hang on in the second half for a 97-86 victory over Golden West in an Orange Empire Conference game Friday at Saddleback.

The Gauchos (19-6, 7-1 in conference) moved into sole possession of first place because Rancho Santiago (6-2) was upset by Irvine Valley, 96-90.

Jeff Foster, a sophomore guard, made seven three-pointers in the first half and had 23 points as Saddleback rolled to a 62-36 lead.

Foster added another three-pointer in the second half to tie a Saddleback single-game record of eight. He finished with a career-high 34 points.

He was 11 of 18 from the field and eight of eight on three-pointers. His previous high was 20 in the first game of the season.

In the second half, Golden West switched to a triangle-and-two defense to slow Foster and John Molle, who had 12 first-half points, which helped the Rustlers dictate the tempo much of the time.

Gerald Rhoden had 19 of his team-high 28 points as Golden West slowly cut into Saddleback’s 26-point halftime advantage.

Golden West got as close as six points at 82-76 with three minutes 12 seconds left, but Saddleback’s Lakis Pantazis made a three-pointer with 2:47 left, and Saddleback led, 85-76.

Golden West got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Molle finished with 18 points and Antoine Jefferson had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Saddleback, which travels to Orange Coast Wednesday.

Saddleback’s only conference loss came against OCC, 66-65, Jan. 8.

Dave Dunham had 16 points and Brendan Lyons had 14, all in the second half, for Golden West. Lyons had four three-pointers to help Golden West close the gap.

In other conference games:

Irvine Valley 96, Rancho Santiago 90--Chris Kostoff had 25 points and Arturo Clemente added 23 as Irvine Valley (12-12, 3-5) upset host Rancho Santiago (17-8, 6-2). Dan Bathey had four three-pointers and added 19 points for Irvine Valley. Fred Amos had a career-high 18 rebounds for Rancho Santiago, which made 21 of 40 free throws.

Rancho Santiago travels to Riverside in a battle of teams tied for second place Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Cypress 70, Orange Coast 58--Robbie Shelton had 21 points to lead Cypress (20-7, 5-3) at home. Anthony Livingston and Jim Felletta added 15 points for the Chargers.

Riverside 89, Fullerton 87--Darryle Flicking had 34 points and Lou Williams 20 for visiting Riverside (20-7, 6-2). Eddie Cochran had 23 points and Tamar Ross had 18 for Fullerton (13-13, 2-6).