Strong second half propels Pirates to big win over Riverside

COSTA MESA -- It was a tale of two halves for the Orange Coast College men's basketball team as the Pirates overcame a 12-point halftime deficit and smothered visiting Riverside City College in the second half en route to a 73-60 Orange Empire Conference win on Thursday night inside the Peterson Gym.

Coast (10-15, 4-7 in conference) forced 16 second-half turnovers and outscored the Tigers (11-16, 3-8) by 25 points in the second half (48-23) to pick up the win.

A relentless barrage of defensive pressure was too much for the Tigers to handle. Point guard Jumoke Walker notched six steals and helped create several foiled offensive trips by RCC. The pesky freshman also scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to go along with four rebounds and five assists. Kyle Lawson led Coast with 18 points, while Jamaal Lee struggled with foul trouble but still managed to get 13 points and nine rebounds.

Coast trailed 42-30 with 18:47 left in the game before ripping off eight straight points, all coming off of four Riverside turnovers. A Paul Pena 3-pointer with 16:28 left capped off the run and brought the Pirates back to within four at 42-38.

Courtney Moffatt, who led the Tigers with 16 points, drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back up to seven (45-38), But again, the Pirates went on another turnover-fueled run and got to within a point at 45-44.

However, the run of the night came a minute later. Trailing, 48-44 with 14:26 left, Coast held the Tigers without a point for over seven minutes and outscored RCC 17-0 over that span, putting the Pirates ahead for good. During that outburst, Riverside went 0-for-5 from the floor with six turnovers, while Coast shot 7-of-11 with no turnovers.

It was a second half to remember for the Pirates, who went 15-of-29 from the floor (51.7%), 3-of-4 from 3-point range (75%) and 15-of-18 from the free-throw line (83.3%).

Riverside, which shot 14-of-26 from the floor (53.8%), was held to just 6-of-20 shooting (30%) in the second half.

The Pirates will return to action on Friday, Feb. 19 at Saddleback College, beginning at 7 p.m.