Pirates beat Cuyamaca into submission, win 85-64

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's basketball team improved to 3-0 for the season with another bruising effort and an 85-64 nonconference win over visiting Cuyamaca College on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

Playing their usual helter-skelter, aggressive style of basketball, the Pirates never gave the Coyotes (1-6) room to breathe on the floor as the OCC defense forced 35 Cuyamaca turnovers for the night.

Coast nearly DOUBLED the shot attempts on the Coyotes (90-47), so even with a rough shooting night from 3-point range (4-for-30), the volume of made shots on the floor proved to be the difference.

Jydon Hall led Coast with 16 points and six assists, while Logen Howard added 13 points and six steals. Sam Hunter and Jaiden Greene each had 12 points, while Clifton Brown tossed in 10 points and grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.

For the Coyotes, Anthony McManus led the way with 15 points, while Leo Lindemose added 10 off the bench.

Coast stepped on the defensive gas pedal right from the opening tip and set the tempo for the night. Turnovers led to easy baskets for the Pirates and just five minutes into the game, Coast was up 20-5. 

But the home rims weren't friendly to the hosts for the rest of the first half as OCC managed just 21 points the rest of the way and the lead shrunk down to 4 at the break, 41-37.

Just 2 minutes into the second half, a McManus basket kept Cuyamaca to within four, but that would as close as the guests would get the rest of the way as OCC clamped down on defense and outscored the Coyotes 19-2 over a nine-minute span to blow the game open. Cuyamaca was held to just 1-of-12 from 3-point range and 22 made baskets for the entire game.

Coast will take to the road for the next several games, starting on Friday at the Palomar Thanksgiving Crossover, against Miramar, beginning at 3 p.m. OCC's next home game will be on Jan. 9 against Fullerton, beginning at 6 p.m.