Men’s Basketball: Pirates go cold, fall
SANTA ANA — Santa Ana College reserve guard Kyle Kintzle tied a school record with nine three-pointers and the host Dons outrebounded Orange Coast, 47-35.
That was the long and short of Santa Ana’s 75-51 Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball victory Wednesday night.
Kintzle finished with 29 points to lead the winners (10-9, 2-2 in conference), who halted OCC’s two-game conference winning streak by turning a 28-25 deficit late in the first half into a 41-30 advantage with 17:42 left in the game that deflated the Pirates (4-12, 2-2).
Kintzle made six of his three-pointers after halftime (on seven attempts) to help the Dons outscore OCC, 39-20, in the final 20 minutes and expand their lead to as many as 26.
OCC made four of 28 field-goal attempts after intermission (14.3%), including only one for 11 from three-point range (9.1%), to finish just 16 for 60 from the field (26.7%).
Santa Ana, which has now won six of its last eight, connected on 52.4% of its second-half field-goal tries (11 for 21), including six for nine from threedom.
The Pirates forced 21 turnovers, five more than they committed, but further hurt their chances by making only 13 of 24 free-throw attempts (54.2%).
Devasyia Hagger, Brad Buchignani and Deion Page, who all came in averaging just more than 12 points per game, combined for just 21, and the Santa Ana bench outscored the OCC reserves, 45-15.
OCC Coach Steve Spencer apparently had had enough, quickly leaving the court after the final buzzer and never returning to comment on the trouncing.
Hagger wound up with a team-best nine points and his five rebounds tied Buchignani for team-high honors for the Pirates.
Buchignani had eight points, but was three for 12 from the field, while starting guard Henry Nguyen made just two of 11 field-goal tries.
OCC was outscored, 16-2, spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, when the Pirates went 9:04 with only a Connor McGrath layup to show for its trouble.
Before the drought, OCC had battled the Dons virtually even, with 11 lead changes in the opening 16 minutes.
OCC led, 14-9, with 11:41 left in the first half, as Buchignani and Nguyen each connected from beyond the arc and Page had a pair of buckets to help the visitors lead early.
OCC made just four field goals in the final 23:14, and the Dons regularly collected the misses.
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Orange Empire Conference
Santa Ana 75, Orange Coast 51
OCC – Hagger 9, Dei. Page 6, DeA. Page 6, Buchignani 8, Nguyen 6, McGrath 5, Metdals 4, Carbonier 3, Estrada 2, Tomaselli 2.
3-pt. goals – Buchignani 2, Nguyen 2, Carbonier 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
SAC –Blum 5, Bryan 3, Williams 13, Michail 7, Kapano 2, Kintzle 29, Wright 9, Chennault 3, Darby 2, Condoll 2.
3-pt. goals – Kintzle 9, Williams 1, Wright 1.
Fouled out – Michael.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 36-30, SAC.