Cypress’ Drought Allows Riverside to Clinch Title

Cypress went six minutes of the second half without a point, allowing Riverside to clinch the Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball title with a 79-70 victory Friday at Riverside.

Riverside’s victory, coupled with Irvine Valley’s 81-80 upset of Saddleback, allowed the Tigers (26-6, 12-2) to win the conference title outright. It is their first championship since 1989.

Cypress (15-18, 6-8) trailed for the first 26 minutes but fought back to take a seven-point lead with 10 minutes left. Then came the scoring drought.

Fabian Luna scored 16 points to lead Cypress, which had won four in a row. Raymonds Miglinieks scored 22 for Riverside.