Pirates continue incredible run with 62-60 win over Cypress

CYPRESS -- The magic of the Orange Coast College men's basketball team continued on Wednesday night as the Pirates pulled out a 62-60 Orange Empire Conference win at Cypress College.

Wednesday's win -- the Pirates' seventh straight and 14th win over their last 16 games -- keeps Coast atop the OEC standings at 7-1 (16-7 overall), one game ahead of second-place Fullerton and a game-and-a-half ahead of third-place Saddleback with just four games remaining.

Josh Davis led the Pirates with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Kupaa Harrison added 16 points and 10 boards. Lloyd Wright, who struggled with foul trouble throughout the game, came through in the game's final minutes and finished with 12 points.

Coast trailed by 14 at 55-41 with 6:35 remaining in the game before Coast exploded for a 19-2 run over the next five minutes of play to grab a 60-57 lead. Cypress was held to two missed shots, two made free throws and six turnovers over that five-minute span.

Wright drained a 3-pointer with 1:48 left to even the score at 57 and following a turnover by the Chargers, the 6-5 forward came right back down and drained another one from downtown, putting the Pirates up, 60-57.

Cypress hit a pair of free throws to make it 60-59 and after a Coast turnover, the Chargers went to the line with a chance to regain the lead with 29 seconds left.

But, Charger guard Randall Walker made one 1-of-2 and the game was tied at 60.

Wright was fouled with 12 seconds left and made the first free throw to put OCC up, 61-60. He missed his second attempt, but teammate Leonard Stallings came up with a huge offensive rebound and was quickly fouled to stop the clock.

Stallings made 1-of-2 with seven seconds left and the Pirates held on for the victory as a 3-point attempt by Casey Dickson in the game's final seconds missed its mark.

Coast will return to action on Friday night at home against Santiago Canyon, beginning at 7 p.m.