OCC’s Ortiz signs

Orange Coast College sophomore Lance Ortiz has signed a national letter of intent to continue his men’s basketball career at Cal State San Bernardino, Pirates’ assistant coach Duy Tran announced.

Ortiz, a 6-foot guard, averaged 14.7 points, 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds on his way to first-team All-Orange Empire Conference honors this season.

Ortiz, who helped OCC compile a 22-11 record and advance to the Southern California Regional playoffs, also considered Westmont, Northeastern Oklahoma State and San Francisco State.

Tran said Ortiz, who played at Orange High, chose San Bernardino, a Division II program, because he wanted to stay close to home.

The Coyotes are coming off a 13-13 season in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., finishing tied for fourth in conference. Prior to that, they had won six consecutive CCAA titles and appeared in the NCAA Division II playoffs in seven straight seasons.

Ortiz should get opportunities to play right away. The Coyotes will lose five of the nine guards on their roster, including starting point guard Antoine Parker. They do return leading assist man Geoffrey Clayton, who had 73 assists in 23 games.dpt-ortiz19.IMGGraphicInfoOP1Q3KHU20060419OP1Q3KHUNo Caption