Orange Coast College

Men's Basketball: Pirates top L.A. Southwest in Regional opener

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

COSTA MESA - The last time the Orange Coast College men's basketball team won a playoff game, Def Leppard's "Hysteria" was soaring up the charts, "Dirty Dancing" was making the world sweaty and the American League Rookie of the Year went to a skinny, but powerful slugger named Mark McGwire.

T

imes have officially changed on Wednesday at the Peterson Gym as the Pirates erased 20 years of victory-less playoff basketball with a 70-67 win over L.A. Southwest in the first round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

The last playoff win came in the 1986-87 season when the Pirates toppled the College of the Canyons 99-53 in the opening round of the playoffs.

"It's another step in improving our men's basketball program," OCC head coach Steve Spencer said. "We've been to the playoffs a couple of times, but to be able to win and move on is great. I'm very happy for the guys because they've worked so hard."

Steve Cornett (pictured left) led the 15th seeded Pirates (17-14) with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Miguel Gonzalez added 11 points (three 3-pointers in the second half) and Cameron Wise chipped in 10 (eight in the second half).

"A lot of guys stepped up and made big plays when they had to," Spencer said. "Down the stretch, we were getting that big basket, or big rebound or big steal. Earlier in the season, we weren't getting those plays and we were losing. Now, we're winning those close games and at the right time of the season."

The 18th seeded Cougars (17-14), deep in speed and shooting ability, showed just that early on, taking the lead right from the opening jump and scoring the game's first seven points in just over a minute of action.

"They really came at us early," Spencer said. "I told them that we needed to maintain our composure and just keep playing our game."

The Cougars' lead grew to 25-15 before a Gonzalez jumper and eight straight Cornett points brought the Pirates back even at 25 with 6:29 left in the first half.

L.A. Southwest retook a three-point lead before a 9-0 OCC run gave the Pirates their first lead of the game -- a lead they would not lose the rest of the way.

Leading 37-35 at the half, OCC was sparked by the long-range shooting of Gonzalez early on as he hit back-to-back-to-back treys in the first 3:00 of the second half, to help push the Pirates' lead up to seven at 48-41.

Led by 27 points from California's second-highest scorer Chris Smith, the Cougars used their long-range shooting (10 3-pointers) to stay in the game, but it was their free-throw shooting that eluded them as they went 0-for-8 from the charity stripe.

"A team like L.A. Southwest that is so dependent on rhythm shooting and timing, sometimes, a free-throw is just a harder shot to shoot," Spencer said. "You see it in the NBA and you see it at the college level all the time."

After a three-point play by Wise (pictured right) pushed OCC's lead up to six (59-53), back-to-back jumpers by Smith got the Cougars to within a basket with 7:07 left to play.

It would be as close as they would get as a Cornett jump-hook, a Wise jumper and a 3-pointer from Diego Delgado capped off a 7-0 run that gave OCC a 66-57 lead with 4:18 left.

Refusing to go away, L.A. Southwest used a Smith 3-pointer and a bucket by Andrew Cambell to get to within four with 2:55 left.

Following a pair of OCC free throws, another Smith trey -- his fifth of the game -- got the Cougars to within three (68-65) with 46.9 seconds remaining.

Both teams hit baskets and following an OCC miss, the Cougars had the ball in the final seconds with a chance to tie, but Smith's 3-point attempt rang off the rim and Brian Molina's rebound iced the game.

OCC will now travel to No. 2 Ventura where it will be a Pirates vs. Pirates showdown in the second round. Tip-off is set for Saturday night at 7.