SANTA ANA, Calif. – Santa Ana's Men's Basketball team returned from the holiday break to host Fullerton College in its first Orange Empire Conference game of the season. The Dons played the defending OEC champs tough but dropped the contest 95-89.
Santa Ana stayed within reach of the Hornets by knocking down five threes and forcing seven turnovers in the first half. At the half, the Dons trailed by just seven (53-46) after falling behind by as many as 12 points.
Despite the hot shooting of the Hornets, the Dons kept chipping away at the lead in the second and eventually cut the lead to 3 (91-88) with 21 seconds to go. The Hornets would settle down and make some big free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Cameron High went for a game-high 27 points to go along with seven assists to lead the Dons, while D' Caran Anderson added 16 points on 4-12 shooting from three.
Xavier Gunter did some damage on the inside for the Dons with 14 points and nine rebounds but what really gave the Dons a chance was the spark from their bench. Tyson Powell came away with six points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench and Trevor Sergent contributed with 10 points and three rebounds, going 3-5 from behind the arc.
Although Santa Ana fell to 7-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play, they should be encouraged by how they played against a tough Fullerton team. Next up for the Dons will be another home game on Wednesday, Jan. 10th against Riverside City at 5:00 p.m.
