Gauchos blast MiraCosta

The Saddleback men's basketball team won its second straight game with an 83-50 victory over MiraCosta College on Wednesday night at the Saddleback Gymnasium.  The 33-point win tied the largest margin of victory for the year as the Gauchos improved to 8-6 on the season.

MiraCosta scored the first two points of the game, but it was the last lead the Spartans would have as the Gauchos rattled off 11 straight points and never relinquished the lead.  Saddleback was much too big inside, outscoring MiraCosta 40-18 in the paint in cruising to the win.

Saddleback showed great depth throughout as 12-of-13 players on the active roster scored during the course of the game. The bench erupted late in the second half when Quentin Marcelo buried a three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining for an 83-48 lead.  It was the freshman's second basket of the season and first since scoring against San Diego Mesa College in early November.  

Sean Birk and Ryan Beddeo led the Gauchos with 11 points apiece while Shawn Stith finished with 10.  Birk had a big second half, scoring nine of his 11 points in just nine minutes of work.  He was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second frame as the Gauchos finished 6-of-11 from three-point range in the second half.

The Saddleback defense was stellar throughout, holding MiraCosta to 27% shooting for the game.  The Gauchos were particularly good at defending the perimeter as the Spartans managed to make only 3-of-24 shots from long range. 

The lopsided victory was the second time this season that Saddleback has won by 33 points, also beating Orange Coast College 91-58 in the Palomar College Tournament.

Saddleback will have the week off before traveling to Glendale College in the final game of the calendar year.  The Gauchos will visit the Vaqueros on Saturday, December 29, at 12:00 PM.