Bobcats stun ELAC in SBVC Tournament

The Saddleback men's basketball team defeated East Los Angeles College, 91-87, on Friday at the Alvin Hunter Classic at San Bernardino Valley College.  The Bobcats now face the top-ranked team from Northern California in the semifinals.

Saddleback came into the game as underdogs with East Los Angeles being ranked No. 7 in Southern California in the season-opening California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCMBCA) State Rankings.  The Bobcats wasted no time in showing they weren't intimidated, outscoring the Huskies 44-36 in taking an eight-point lead into the locker room at the intermission.

 Saddleback was red hot from the field over the first 20 minutes, making 5-of-13 from long range and connecting on 9-of-10 free throws.  The biggest contributor was Charlie Stallings, who scored 13 points over the first 20 minutes on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.

Saddleback came out of the locker room hot in the second half, building a 14-point lead over the first four minutes.  Saddleback outscored the Huskies 11-5, making four of their first five shots.  Stallings had five points, a steal and a rebound during the run.

Saddleback then went into a bit of a funk, going scoreless over the next 4+ minutes while East Los Angeles closed to within eight with 13:26 remaining on the clock.  The Bobcats finally responded when Michael Bichel made a layup to extend the lead back to double-digits.

Saddleback and East Los Angeles played even for the next 13 minutes as the lead straddled between six and 11 until the final minute of the game.  The Huskies seemed to have no answer for David Mitchell, who made big shots while holding East Los Angeles from getting any closer.  The Huskies closed to within five with 13 seconds left on the clock, but the Bobcats were able to hold them off in winning their third game of the season.

The second half belonged to Mitchell, who finished with a team-high 24 points after going 5-of-5 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line in scoring 19 points in the second half.  Stallings finished with 22 points while leading the team with eight rebounds. 

The Bobcats finished 8-of-17 from three-point range in the game while making 27-of-34 free throws (79.4%). 

Saddleback is now 3-1 to start the season. The Bobcats get a tough test on Saturday in the semifinals when they face City College of San Francisco (3-0) at 4:00 PM at San Bernardino Valley College.