Pirates finish second at Citrus tourney

GLENDORA -- The Orange Coast College men's basketball team was on both sides of some wild finishes this weekend at the 2012 Neil Edwards Classic as the Pirates advanced to the tourney title game before finishing second overall.

OCC (3-3) opened the tournament with a 75-46 win over Poterville on Friday. Thanks to a smothering defense that forced 34 Poterville turnovers, the Pirates broke free in the second half and never looked back. Jordan Pellum came off of the bench to lead Coast with 13 points and five steals, while John Joyce added 10. 

On Saturday, OCC jumped out to a big lead, then hung on for an 82-81 win over East L.A. to advance to the championship game of the tournament. Coast used a big second-half run to lead by as many as 17 before the Huskies (5-2) climbed all the way back and actually grabbed an 81-80 lead with 18 seconds go. But Coast maintained poise down the stretch and in the game's final seconds, Joyce drew a foul and calmly drained a pair of free throws to give Coast the win. Pellum again led the way with 14 points, while Joyce added 12.

In the title game against L.A. Pierce, the Brahmas (6-1) built an 18-point lead before the Pirates took a page out of East L.A.'s comeback manual and chipped away into the deficit. A lead that was as big as 23 for the Brahmas was trimmed down to one with six seconds left. Pierce's J.R. Williams hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to extend the lead to two, then he and the rest of the Brahmas kept Coast out of the basket on its final possession. Jo Jo Trinidad lead the Pirates with 18 points, including five 3-pointers, while Marquis Ransom added 16 points and five rebounds.

Ransom finished the tournament with 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

OCC's nonstop defensive pressure forced 93 turnovers in the three-game tournament, an average of 31 per game.

The Pirates will return to tournament action on Thursday at the Mt. San Antonio College Tournament.