Santa Ana Holds on to Defeat Golden West 82-77

Santa Ana Holds on to Defeat Golden West 82-77

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Santa Ana men's basketball team picked up its 10th win of the season with an 82-77 victory over Golden West (3-23, 1-13) on Thursday night.

After a very even first half of play, Santa Ana made some adjustments during the break to gain a slight advantage to start the second. The Dons began to pressure full-court, forcing the Rustlers to turn the ball over and take rushed shots which led to a 6-0 run (49-43) following Jalani Horn's two free throws at the 17:12 mark.

In response, Golden West made some substitutions and then went on its own run over the next four minutes. The Rustlers started to attack the press and make shots, going 6-9 from the field in the run, taking a four point lead (59-55) with 13:08 left to play.

But the Dons found a way to weather the storm as they closed the gap just a few minutes later with the help of sophomore guard Jeremiah Morehead, who went on a personal 8-0 run. Morehead finished with 17 points on 5-5 shooting while grabbing five boards in 20 minutes of action.

Horn and Ramon Lopez combined for 49 points to carry the Dons down the stretch, scoring 27 of those points in the second half. The duo was 20-35 from the field and also combined for 13 rebounds, eight assists and five steals.

The dagger came with just 14 seconds left when Horn finished a baseline dunk over a Rustler defender to put Santa Ana up 81-76.

UP NEXT: Santa Ana will take on No. 2 ranked Santiago Canyon on the road next Wednesday (2/19) at 6:00 p.m.