Cypress, CA – The Cypress College men's basketball team (17-4, 4-1 OEC) refused to hand Santa Ana (4-15, 0-5 OEC) their first conference victory as the Chargers won 73-59 on Friday night.

Nolan Kelly led the team in scoring with 18 points, including two dunks. Jordan Fleck made contributions on both ends of the floor, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

For the first 10 minutes of the opening half neither team could find any rhythm on offense. Down 11-10 with 9:30 remaining in the first half, the Chargers went on a 14-0 sparked by a layup from Jeremy Wright. The sophomore guard was in control during the duration of that run, scoring nine points over the course of three minutes to give Cypress a 24-11 lead. After the Dons broke their scoring drought with two free throws by Noah Wellington, the Chargers went on a 19-7 run with 5:26 remaining in the half. Jordan Fleck scored and was fouled on a layup attempt, converting the three-point play to close the half with a 43-20 lead.

The Dons tried to cut away Cypress' lead early in the second half, and for a moment it seemed they had a chance to get back in the game. Trailing 53-37 with 11:08 left on the clock, Santa Ana went on an 11-2 run to get the Chargers out of their comfort zone. Cypress went on a 9-0 run while leading 65-53 with 3:11 left to put the Dons away for good, during which Nolan Kelly converted an alley-oop and followed shortly by a drive to the hoop for an emphatic two handed slam.

The Chargers will face the Fullerton Hornets on the road Wednesday, January 27 at 5:00 pm. They will return home on Friday night to take on the Orange Coast Pirates at 7:00 pm.

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