SCC Dominates from Start to Finish for 20th Victory of the Season

The Santiago Canyon College Men's Basketball Team has been an uptempo, offensive juggernaut for most of the season.  Tonight was no different as the Hawks dominated throughout the game and finished with a 105-68 victory over Orange Coast College. The win marks the 20th victory for the Hawks. Since the inception of the men's basketball program in 2017-18, the Hawks have won at least 20 games each season.  This season has been the best start in the brief history of the program, as they are now 20-1 on the year. SCC, ranked #2 in California, came out hot in this game and opened up a double digit lead in the first 4 minutes of the game.  Antoine Jenkins continued his solid offensive production in the half by leading the team with 16 points, including 3 three pointers.  Paul Vilela also connected on 3 three-point shots and contributed 12 points. A.J. Garrity and Paulo Araujo both added 9 points in the half.  The Hawks finished the half with a steal and layup by Kevin Dobson to lead 62-28 over the Pirates.

Santiago Canyon continued hot in the 2nd half and built a 48-point lead with 7:41 left in the game. To their credit, the Pirates kept on battling and cut into the lead late in the game with the final score, 105-68, in favor of the Hawks.  Jenkins led all scorers with 25 points on the night.  Vilela finished with 14 points. David Agba scored 13 points, while Garrity rounded out the double digit scorers with 12 points.  Araujo led the team with 9 rebounds on the evening and Vilela had a team-high 6 assists.  On the defensive end, Jenkins led the team with 5 steals.  On the night, SCC connected on 17 three pointers and shot 51.4% overall from the floor.  SCC outrebounded the Pirates 46 to 29 and forced 24 turnovers, which led to 30 points in transition.  The Hawks also connected on 14 free throws on 17 attempts.  

Santiago Canyon will continue play in the Orange Empire Conference with 2 home games next week.  Wednesday, the Hawks play Cypress College, and on Friday, SCC hosts Saddleback College.  Both games are 6pm tip-off times.