SANTA ANA, Calif. - Although the Santa Ana Men's Basketball team got off to a slow start against the Saddleback Bobcats (12-8, 4-4), the Dons (7-13, 3-5) battled back to make it competitive in the second half.
With 3:44 left in the game, Kelvonte Ellis picked up a steal which led to a transition layup, cutting the Bobcat lead to just seven at 71-64.
Following a timeout, Saddleback settled down and stopped the run with a three pointer to push their lead back to double-digits.
SAC continued to play hard but just could not score enough to complete the comeback as they fell to the Bobcats by a score of 86-69.
Ellis recorded his sixth double-double of the season with a line of 28 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and one block.
Freshman bigs Tyler Woods and Zeyu Shan both scored in double-digits with 11 a piece while combining for 10 rebounds and two blocks.
With the loss, the Dons dropped to seventh in the Orange Empire Conference standings. Santa Ana will have another tough opponent on Wednesday as they host the No. 1 ranked Fullerton Hornets at 6:00 p.m.