Orange Coast College

Men's Basketball: Pirates come up short against Moorpark

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's basketball team fell to 0-3 on the season with an 87-81 nonconference loss to visiting Moorpark on Tuesday in the Pirates' home opener.

Two teams with very similar styles went at it in the Peterson Gym and in the end, it was the Raiders (2-2) who prevailed with a late run over the Pirates.

Eric O'Mahony led the Pirates with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while Matthew Ching and Brian Hellmuth each added 12 and Brian Molina tossed in 11.

It was a game of runs, fouls and turnovers for both teams. OCC got things rolling early by opening the game with a 12-0 run before Moorpark responded with a 17-0 to take a five-point lead.

Moorpark's advantage grew to as many as eight in the first half (34-26) before OCC closed out the first half with an 18-5 outburst to take a 44-39 lead at the half.

But the Raiders set the tempo in the second half by opening things with a 17-7 run to take a 56-51 advantage.

Both teams played a very aggressive, harassing style of defense that not only created a ton of turnovers for each team (60 combined), it also caused a ton of fouls (59) and foul shots (62).

Trailing 69-64, OCC picked up a huge 3-pointer from O'Mahony and a pair of single free throws from Shaun Engle (nine points, six assists) and O'Mahony to tie the game at 69 with 4:33 remaining.

After a pair of free throws from Dwight Jones gave Moorpark the lead again, Molina took it away from them with a trey of his own, giving the Pirates a 72-71 lead with 4:19 left.

But Moorpark answered right back with a crucial 9-0 run, highlighted by a three-point play by Jones and a pair of treys from Cameron Nash and Trevin Johnson gave the Raiders an eight-point lead with 2:30 left -- a lead they would not give up the rest of the way.

Caise Burris led the Raiders with 19 points, while Michael Rodgers added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

OCC returns to action on Friday at home against West Los Angeles, beginning at 5 p.m.