Men’s basketball: OCC tops Chargers

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College men’s basketball team led by

as many as 22 points, but Orange Empire Conference visitor Cypress cut

the lead to three in the second half, before the Pirates claimed an 88-78

triumph Saturday night.

Cypress, trailing at halftime, 44-26, hit 19 of 41 second-half

field-goal attempts, while OCC was connecting on just 7 of 18, to make

things more interesting than the Pirates would have liked.

OCC got 17 points from Nick Burwell and Ryan Webster, each of whom

sank a trio of three-pointers.

Ryan Earl added 16 points and Rich Oliver 10 for the winners, who

improved to 11-6, 2-0 in conference. Oliver also collected a game-high 11

rebounds. Cypress fell to 7-11, 0-2.

ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE

Orange Coast 88, Cypress 78

Cypress - Lorenzana 14, Erquhart 12, Lee 11, Douglass 11, Brennan 8,

Edwards 7, Rachlin 6, Jackson 6, Lucas 3.

3-pt. goals - Lorenzana 4, Edwards 3, Brennan 3, Lucas 1, Erquhart 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Orange Coast - Webster 17, Burwell 17, Earl 16, Oliver 10, Libistre 9,

Hagedorn 8, McKinney 5, Rivera 4, Madrid 2.

3-pt. goals - Webster 3, Burwell 3, McKinney 1, Earl 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Halftime - 44-26, OCC.