Orange Coast College

Men's Basketball: Pirates end season with win over Santa Ana

Friday, February 22, 2008

COSTA MESA -- Playing hard and coaching hard right down to the final whistle, the Orange Coast College men's basketball team ended the 2007-08 season with a solid 75-65 Orange Empire Conference win over Santa Ana on Friday at the Peterson Gym.

Brian Helmuth led the Pirates (9-20, 4-8) with 20 points and seven rebounds. Shaun Engle ended his OCC career with 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, while Brian Gee and Nicholas Milan each added 10 points. Milan also added seven rebounds in his OCC finale.

The Pirates started their five sophomores -- Gee, Engle, Milan, Brian Molina (five points, six assists) and Tres Saldivar (three points, one steal) for their two years of hard work and commitment to the program.

Tyre Thompson led the Dons (9-21, 1-11) with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Raymont Jennings added 10 points and five rebounds.

OCC played a solid first half and jumped out to a 43-30 halftime lead. Santa Ana got to within six with 7 minutes left in the game, but never got any closer the rest of the way.

Things got out of hand midway through the second half when a skirmish between an OCC player and SAC player broke out. Three Pirate players and two Dons players were ejected, but order was restored for the rest of the game.