Hawks Fall in Battle of Top Conference Squads

The Santiago Canyon College men's basketball team hit the road on Friday night to take on the defending state champion Fullerton College Hornets in a fight for the top spot in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC). The game featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes, but it was the Hornets who had the final say and served the Hawks a 78-70 defeat.

The Hawks five-game winning streak was snapped on Friday bringing their overall record to 12-4 with a 3-1 conference clip. Furthermore, it was just the second time in the last seven games that the Hawks finished with under 90 points.

It was an evenly matched contest as both teams posted similar numbers in all major statistical categories. The Hawks carted a 44.6 percent shooting mark from the floor in comparison to Fullerton's 44.8 percent clip. Fullerton shot slightly better from distance by both hitting and taking one more three pointer in comparison to the Hawks who went 6-for-18 from long range.

The Hawks lost the turnover battle 16-13 as well as the rebound fight with a 38-28 ratio leaning in the Hornet's favor.

Sophomore guard Kai Smith led with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, one assist and one block. He extended his double-digit scoring streak to seven straight contests. The rest of the starting five combined for 22 points.

The other offensive spark came off the bench in the form of freshman guard Trevor Manning. He dropped 14 points for his second-straight double-digit scoring game. Sophomore guard Isaiah Arthurton led the facilitating with a career-high eight assists. He added six points as well.