Bucs fall in playoff opener

The run has ended, too quickly for the Orange Coast College men’s

basketball team.

The Pirates (20-13) jumped to an early 12-7 lead, but host Mt. San

Antonio figured out how to get through the visitors’ press and rolled

to an 84-62 win in the first round of the Southern California

Regional Playoffs Friday night.

Coast sophomore Jason Garey hit two three-pointers early on and

finished with 11 points, one behind Lanier Brown (12). Aaron Bobik tallied 10 points and Alfonso James chipped in nine.

Coast cut the lead to two late in the first half, but Mt. Sac went

on a 9-2 run before intermission and jumped to a 10-2 run when play

resumed to increase the lead for good.

Mt. SAC’s leading scorer, Robert Hamilton, tallied 15 of his

game-high 19 points in the first half, helping the hosts finish 36 of

63 (57.1%) from the field while Coast managed to sink just 19 of 60

(31.6%) of its shot attempts. The hosts (22-13) outrebounded Coast,

41-28.

Stephon Seales, who tallied four points, led Coast with six

rebounds to finish the season.

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Southern California Regional

First round

Mt. San Antonio 84, OCC 62

OCC -- Seales 4, Brown 12, A. Bobik 10, Garey 11, B. Bobik 4, James

9, Peppers 2, Alexander 1, Vakili 7, Hatch 2, Shaheim 0. 3-pt. goals

-- Vakili 1, Brown 1, Garey 3. Fouled out -- none. Technicals --

none. Mt. San Antonio -- Vandi 4, Harmon 8, Wilburn 16, Hamilton 19, Smith 14, Green 8, Knight 2, Martin 8, El Amin 0, Redmond 0,

Wellmaker 0. 3-pt. goals -- Wilburn 4. Fouled out -- none. Technicals

-- Mt. Sac bench. Halftime -- Mt. Sac, 40-29

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