Santiago Canyon Secures Home Win over Irvine Valley College

Santiago Canyon and Irvine Valley played the first of back to back games on Thursday evening with this game hosted by SCC.  The Hawks played with a renewed passion and defeated the Lasers by the score of 81-71.  With the win SCC improves to 19-5 overall and 9-5 in the Orange Empire Conference.  The first half saw high level offensive play by both teams with four ties and six lead changes.  Each team shot over 50% from the field for the half. The Hawks led by 1 with the score of 41-40 at the half.  Freshman Erik Howlin led the way with 11 points, while Harrison Wiese chipped in with 8 points including two made shots from beyond the 3-point line. SCC's biggest lead of the half was 7, while IVC had a 2 point lead midway through the half. 

IVC came out with a quick 4 points and took a three point lead after a minute into the second half, but Drew Yezbak connected on a three-point shot and was fouled in the act.  He converted the free throw for the four-point play and the Hawks never looked back.  They built a 16 point lead with 11:51 to go in the game on inspired play by the entire team. Yezbak connected on 6 three-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points.  David Agba scored 20 points and Howlin finished with 17 points to round out the double digit scorers. The Hawks connected on all 14 free throw attempts in the game.  Leading the way in rebounding with 7 boards was Howlin, who also dished out 3 assists. Wiese led the way in assists with 6, including a couple of fantastic backdoor passes for easy buckets.  

SCC and IVC will play again on Monday night at 5pm at Irvine Valley College.  Both teams are solidifying their spots in the State Playoffs which will start in two weeks. The Hawks will have 3 games in the next week; Monday at IVC, Wednesday at home vs. Fullerton, and Friday at home vs. Orange Coast.  The home games will have a tip-off time of 4pm.