Rancho Santiago to Meet Riverside

The surprising Rancho Santiago College men’s basketball team, which lost eight sophomores and all five starters from last season’s team, opens its Orange Empire Conference season tonight at home against Riverside.

Rancho Santiago (15-5) is led by sophomore guard Kenny Ammann (19.9 points a game) and freshman forward Alonzo Jamison (18 points a game). Riverside is 10-10.

Ammann is a sophomore transfer from Cal State Bakersfield.

In other conference openers, Citrus (5-13) plays at Saddleback (12-6), which has won six straight. Cypress (16-5), which opened the season with nine straight victories, plays at Orange Coast (13-9). All games start at 7:30 p.m.