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Relentless Pirates defense suffocates Irvine Valley 59-51
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Saturday, January 13, 2007
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IRVINE - Orange Coast's gameplan is simple -- find the guy with the ball and make his life miserable until he gets rid of it. Then, find the next guy with the ball and make his life even worse. 
That relentless gameplan worked to perfection for the Pirates on Friday night as they took care of Irvine Valley 59-51 to improve to 3-0 in the Orange Empire Conference (12-9 overall).
Steve Cornett (pictured left) led OCC with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Shaun Engle (pictured right) added 17 points and four assists. Engle and Casey Ngo each posted three steals for the Pirates as they forced 25 IVC turnovers and held the guard combination of Ceylon Elgin-Taylor and Jason Toney to 5-of-21 shooting, 0-of-6 from 3-point range and 10 turnovers.
That defense held the Lasers to 25 percent shooting from the field in the first half (0-of-7 3s) as the Pirates took a 38-23 halftime lead. The lead grew to as many as 24 before an IVC run, sparked by Carlos Pinto (team-high 15 points) nearly got it all back.
But Coast, who hit 17-of-27 from the free-throw line, managed to keep their lead and maintained a share of first place with Riverside and Saddleback in the OEC.
OCC will return to action on Wednesday, at home, against Santa Ana, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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