SANTA ANA, Calif. - Santa Ana College Men's Basketball hosted Long Beach City College (0-1) on day one of the 2023 Dana Pagett Tip-Off Tournament on Thursday night. 

The Dons (1-0) came from behind to earn a thrilling 93-92 overtime win to start the 2023-24 campaign on the right foot. 

Although Santa Ana was down by as much as 10 points in the first half, they kept themselves within reach, which paid off down the stretch. 

SAC eventually made a run to tie the game at 65-65 with about 10 minutes left in the second half. From there, the two teams went back and forth, trading big shot for big shot. 

With 12 seconds remaining in the half, the Dons drew up a play for Cam Johnson, who got to his elbow for a pull-up jumper that looked like it would be the game winner as it put them up 86-84. But the Vikings responded by being aggressive at the rim and forcing a foul call which would send the game to overtime. 

In the final five minutes, LBCC got off to a 6-0 run until Mac West went coast to coast to wake the Dons up again. After a couple missed free throws and a defensive stop, West had his name called once again with a three pointer on the left wing to cut the deficit to one at 92-91. 

After a timeout, Long Beach City hoped to regain the momentum on the ensuing possession but instead turned over the ball with a pass that was intercepted by West who was then fouled in transition to get sent to the free throw line.

West came up clutch with two free throws at the 15 second mark, which turned out to be the game winning points as the Dons got one last stop to end the game. West, a freshman guard out of Capistrano Valley Christian, scored the last seven points for SAC and finished with 16 to go with seven rebounds and five assists. 

9️⃣3️⃣-9️⃣2️⃣ OT DUB‼️�� #SACDons #SACMBB pic.twitter.com/fpGbFhBHX3

— SAC Dons (@SACDons) November 3, 2023

Standout forward Kaden Minter led SAC with 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting in his debut. The freshman out of Mater Dei also grabbed seven rebounds and four steals to top an impressive performance. 

Sophomore guard Zeke Bennett added nine points and five assists while Johnson and Ja'Von Maxwell both came up with eight points each off the bench. 

The Dons will wrap up the tournament on Saturday when they host Glendale College at 12:00 p.m.