Costa Mesa, CA – The Cypress College men's basketball team (14-3, 1-0 OEC) opened up Orange Empire Conference play with a 73-72 overtime win at Orange Coast College (6-9, 0-1 OEC).
Austin Payne led the way for the Chargers with 21 points and 12 rebounds on 9-of-16 shooting for his third double-double of the season. Cypress guard Jeremy Wright added 17 points and five assists.
The Chargers held a 14 point lead over the Pirates with four minutes remaining in the first half, but OCC ended the half on a 9-0 run to cut their deficit to five heading into the break. The Pirates 52-34 advantage on the boards propelled them to a 62-57 lead with 11 seconds remaining.
Wright dribbled the length of the floor and knocked down a contested three-point shot to make it a two point game with six seconds remaining. Cypress coach Andrew Alhadeff called timeout immediately to set up his defense.
The Chargers, who have relied on their defense to win games all season, were able to come up big once again. Payne deflected the Pirates inbound pass into the hands of Nolan Kelly, who was able to finish at the rim as time expired to send the game into overtime.
OCC standout Jamaal Lee, who finished with a team-high 16 points and 14 rebounds, scored the final six points for the Pirates in overtime. Lee knocked down a fade-away jumper with 36 seconds remaining to put Orange Coast up, 72-71.
Cypress forward Jordan Fleck attacked the rim as the shot clock expired and made a go-ahead layup with six seconds remaining. The Chargers came up with one final stop on the defensive end and escaped with 73-72 victory.
Cypress will host their conference home opener against Irvine Valley College on Friday, January 7th at 5PM.
