Orange Coast College

Men's Basketball: Pirates fall to Chaffey in tournament finals

Monday, November 26, 2007

GLENDORA -- The Orange Coast College men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Neil Edwards Tournament last weekend at Citrus College with wins over Cuyamaca (82-77) and Chaffey (98-87).

But in the title game, the Pirates were topped by the host Owls, 114-92, ending their modest two-game winning streak.

In the tourney opener against Cuyamaca on Friday, the Pirates (2-5 overall) found some success from the 3-point arc, led by Shaun Engle's 19 points (4-of-10 from beyond the arc). Eric O'Mahony hit three 3s on the way to 16 points, while Brian Molina came up with a pair of treys en route to his 14 points. For the game, OCC was 11-for-39 from 3-point land and used its relentless defense to force 27 Cuyamaca turnovers.

The win propelled the Pirates into Saturday's semifinals match against Chaffey. An even better shooting night from downtown (11-of-16) was surpassed by the strong play of freshman wing player Brian Hellmuth, who scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Engle also dazzled the crowd with a 23-point night on 7-of-7 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land. Justin Dang added 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

That set up Sunday's championship showdown between the Pirates and the host Citrus Owls, who are ranked fourth in Southern California and seventh in the state.

OCC gave the Citrus all it could handle early on, but the strong, balanced offense of the Owls was just too much to overcome. Five Citrus (8-0) players reached double figures, led by Buchi Awaji's 29 points.

OCC's Brian Gee led the way with 23 points, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Engle, who earned All-Tournament honors, added 14 points, while Matthew Ching added 11.

The Pirates return to action on Friday when they play at Miramar, beginning at 5 p.m.