Inspired Pirates topple Lasers, 60-56
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Irvine Valley (14-7, 5-4) | 24 | 32 | 56 |
|
Orange Coast (10-11, 4-5) | 34 | 26 | 60 |
COSTA MESA -- Enough was enough for the Orange Coast College men's basketball team, which snapped a five-game skid and picked up an inspired 60-56 Orange Empire Conference win over visiting Irvine Valley College on Friday night.
The Pirates (10-11, 4-5), where led offensively by Isaac Padilla with 16 points and nine rebounds as well as Cody Aquino, who tossed 15 points. Isaiah Lee and Mitchell Rawlins each added eight points as well for OCC.
For the Lasers (14-7, 5-4), four players reached double figures, including Luke Farrington (13 points), Roman Swizek (13 points), Ammon Allan (12 points and Jesse Stines (11 points).
Coast trailed 16-12 early on in the first half, but closed out the half with an 22-8 run to grab a 34-24 lead at the break.
The Pirate lead grew to 10 at 38-28 before IVC began chipping away at the deficit, using a 19-6 run to take a 47-44 advantage with 7:54 left in the game.
But Coast fought back and with 2:48 remaining, an Aquino 3-pointer pushed Coast back in front, 54-52. Less than a minute later, a Padilla layup extended the lead to four at 56-52.
I mini-IVC run got the guests to within a bucket at 58-56 with nine second left. But Timothy Bahadoor was the late-game hero for the Pirates going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to preserve OCC's lead when it mattered the most.
Coast will return to the Peterson Gym on Wednesday night against Cypress College, beginning at 6 p.m.
