Men’s basketball: Pirates stun Irvine Valley

Tony Altobelli

IRVINE - It had the finesse of an intoxicated grizzly bear and the

poetic ambience of a Vanilla Ice concert, but for the Orange Coast

College men’s basketball team, Thursday night’s 72-66 Orange Empire

Conference win over host Irvine Valley, ranked 10th in the state, was

music to the ears of the Pirates.

“We’ll take it,” a relieved OCC Coach Mark Hill said. “That was a huge

win for us on the road against one of the top teams in our conference.”

The win, as ugly as it looked, actually was just what the Pirates

needed. Unlike previous games, the entire team got involved in every

phase of the game.

“We had times where we wilted, but we were able to answer back,” Hill

said. “Some of our players had some big nights for us and that was very

nice to see.”

Nick Burwell, the state’s third-ranked scorer, had an off night

shooting, but still managed to drop in 22 points.

Ryan Earl chipped in 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out

five assists. He also hit four big free throws down the stretch to keep

the lead on the side of the Pirates.

“He had been struggling with his free throws and we’ve been working

with him on that area,” Hill said. “He came through for us big time.”

Hill was also very pleased with the play of Rich Oliver. The 6-foot-5

forward pulled down eight rebounds and did a good job of slowing down

Irvine Valley’s big man, 6-9 Mike Ahmad.

“That was one of his best games of the year,” Hill said of Oliver. “He

was working hard down there all game long and we need strong play from

our big guys if we’re going to be successful.”

The Pirates (10-8, 1-0 in conference) grabbed the lead early, thanks

to a 15-2 run led by Burwell and Earl.

Despite piling up numerous fouls early, the Pirates’ lead remained in

tact thanks to 11 IVC turnovers. The Lasers (10-8, 0-1) outshot OCC from

the charity stripe, 10-1, in the first half, but still trailed by one.

After a brief Lasers’ lead, OCC went of a 14-5 spurt to grab an eight

point lead midway through the second half.

The lead got has high as 10 before the Lasers made a late charge at

the Bucs. A 12-3 run cut the OCC lead down to one, but a big tip-in

basket by Chad Hagedorn (seven points, nine rebounds) extended the lead

to three with 1:24 remaining.

From there, it became a battle at the free-throw line, where OCC

excelled. The Pirates, led by Earl and Burwell, hit 6 of 8 from the

charity stripe in the final minute of play to seal the win.

Chris Ferguson led the Lasers with 18 points, six rebounds and five

assists, while Ahmad scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

“We’ve come up with some big wins on the road this year,” Hill said.

“We’re playing people tough and that’s important heading into conference

play.”

The Pirates will host Cypress on Saturday, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE

Orange Coast 72, Irvine Valley 66

Orange Coast - Burwell 22, Earl 13, Labistre 7, Rivera 7, Hagedorn 7,

Webster 5, Madrid 4, Oliver 4, Meyers 3.

3 pt. goals - Madrid 1, Webster 1, Rivera 1, Burwell 1.

Fouled out - Earl, Oliver.

Irvine Valley - Ferguson 18, Ahmad 16, McGhee 11, Dinh 8, Johnson 6,

Goodman 6, Broussard 1.

3 pt. goals - Dinh 1, Ferguson 1.

Fouled out - Dinh, Ferguson.

Halftime, Orange Coast, 33-32.