SANTA ANA, Calif. – Tyson Powell was the story of the night, as the Santa Ana College Men's Basketball improved to 1-1 in Orange Empire Conference play with an 88-84 win against Riverside City College.
Powell came off the bench and poured in 17 points and seven rebounds in just 20 minutes. The sophomore from View Park High went 5-10 from the field and 3-3 from three-point range.
Santa Ana found themselves down 52-49 at the break but that quickly changed after inserting Powell in the lineup for 15 minutes in the second period.
The Dons went on a late run, giving them an 85-76 advantage with 2:04 to go but Riverside countered with an effective full-court press defense that forced the Dons to turn over the ball at an alarming rate. With 35 seconds left, the Tigers cut the lead to 85-84 before Xavier Gunter broke the dry spell with a layup that gave the Dons just enough separation to come out on top.
D' Caran Anderson was the high point man for the Dons in this one, with 21 points on 7-20 shooting. Xavier Gunter ripped down 16 rebounds to go along with 16 points while Keandre Broussard scored 12 points, with six assists and four boards.
The Dons will travel to Irvine Valley on Friday night for a big matchup with the Lasers, who are 1-2 in conference play after dropping tonight's game against Copper Mountain 95-94.