Santiago Canyon Secures 2nd Place with Win over Orange Coast College

Santiago Canyon College traveled to Costa Mesa to wrap up Orange Empire Conference play with a game against Orange Coast College. The game had major playoff and conference standings implications as both teams were vying for 2nd place and a berth in the state playoffs. In their previous matchup on January 20th, the Hawks came away with a 97-91 win. Tonight's game was intense throughout as both teams battled and played hard. SCC was able to take control of the game late and came away with an 86-77 victory. 

The first half was played at an uptempo pace as both teams pushed the ball in transition and looked to score early. With under 5 seconds to play, Joey Longo got a steal and passed the ball ahead to Damien Parker who made a long three-point shot as time expired in the half to put the Hawks up 41-37. SCC had 8 players score in the half with Kai Smith leading the way with 9 points. Harrison Wiese and Damien Parker each had 7 points. Aaron Wadman had 6 assists in the half. 

SCC jumped out to a 7 point lead early in the second half, but the Pirates stormed back. However, the Hawks never relinquished the lead and were never trailing in the entire game. They pulled away late to secure the 86-77 win. Wadman had a big second half with 19 of his 23 total points including a clutch 11 for 12 from the free throw line. Smith ended with 18 points and Wiese finished with 15 points. Parker rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 points. Wadman had a game high 10 rebounds to go along with a game high 8 assists. 

With the win, SCC finishes with an overall record of 18-10 in the regular season. They finish in 2nd place in the Orange Empire Conference with a 10-6 record. Playoff seeding will be announced on Sunday, February 19. The Hawks are currently ranked 10th in Southern California according to the Massey Rating. Looking at projections, Santiago Canyon should have a first round playoff game on Wednesday, February 22.