LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Santa Ana Men's Basketball team improved to 7-5 after taking third place in the Los Angeles Southwest Intensity Classic with a 79-68 win against Rio Hondo (2-10) on Saturday afternoon.
Cameron High was selected to the All-Tournament team as he led the Dons to a 2-1 record while averaging 17 points, four rebounds and two assists in tournament play.
The Dons defeated Los Angeles Valley College (3-9) 69-58 in their first game to advance to a second-round matchup against tournament host LA Southwest. Keandre Broussard scored a team-high 13 in just 16 minutes off the bench while Xavier Gunter added 13 points and six boards to help the Dons earn the victory.
In their game against LA Southwest, the Dons took a commanding 11-point (49-38) lead against the Cougars at the half but gave up 58 points after the break, which resulted in a 96-93 loss. Both teams shot 51.7 percent from the field but the difference was made in the turnover battle, as the Dons gave the ball away 15 times compared to just 10 times for the Cougars. High was the Don's top scorer with 26 points, going 6-12 on field goals and 10-11 from the stripe.
Santa Ana came back in game three to finish the tournament on a good note by toping the Rio Hondo Road Runners for the second time this season. The two teams were neck and neck before the Dons started to make a run in the last three minutes of the first half to take a 42-35 lead at the break. The Dons continued to play at a high left in the second half and eventually went up by as much as 16. Rio Hondo cut the lead to five points before they started to foul to extend the game. Santa Ana pulled away once again to finish off the Road Runners 79-68.
D' Caran Anderson was huge in this one with 23 points and four made threes on 9-15 shooting. High added another 17 points and Jordan Owens put in 10 points, four rebounds and four assists for arguably his best game so far this season.
Santa Ana will play one more on Dec. 20th at Santa Monica College at 5:00 p.m. before they take their holiday break.
