Pirates put scare in Santa Ana, but Dons prevail, 80-70
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santa Ana (15-9, 9-1) | 30 | 50 | 80 |
|
Orange Coast (8-19, 2-8) | 33 | 37 | 70 |
COSTA MESA -- Brad Buchignani scored 21 points, but Santa Ana College's Cammie Lewis answered the challenge with 30 to give the Dons an 80-70 Orange Empire Conference win over the host Pirates on Thursday night inside the Peterson Gym.
Buchignani was 7-of-10 from the floor and drained five 3-pointers along the way to lead the Pirate offense. Devaun Evans added 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and Noah Prouse added 13 for Coast (8-19, 2-8 in the OEC).
With the Dons trailing by five early in the second half, Lewis went to work and scored 18 points over the final 20 minutes, including eight points in a 14-0 run by the Dons to regain control of the contest.
Trailing 55-42, the Pirates pushed the first-place Dons (15-9, 9-1) back with one final push and pulled even at 64 with 5:32 left on a made layup by Evans.
But the Dons once again pulled away from the pesky Pirates with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to pull away for good.
Terrence Blum added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Dons.
Coast went an impressive 9-of-17 from 3-point land and 17-of-19 from the free-throw line, but 19 turnovers proved to be too much to overcome.
Coast will wrap up its home schedule on Wednesday against Fullerton College, beginning at 7:30 p.m. OCC's season finale will take place on Friday, Feb. 21 at Riverside, also at 7:30 p.m.
