Cats end funk with win

The Saddleback men's basketball team ended a four-game losing streak with an 80-65 victory over Cypress College on Wednesday night inside the gymnasium.  The Bobcats are back above .500 for the season.

Saddleback came out hot from long range, making 5-of-10 shots from beyond the arc in the opening half to take a 32-28 lead at the break.  Sophomore leader Jaden Rahmaan was the catalyst, scoring eight points in the opening frame while making a pair of three-pointers.

Saddleback came out of the locker room with fire, extending the lead to nine points before Cypress could finally score its first points of the half nearly three minutes into the period.  The Chargers would score just three points over the first 5+ minutes as Saddleback built up a 14-point lead.

Saddleback's lead would expand to 21 points with 5:28 remaining after Mark Reichner buried a three-pointer to put the game out of reach.  Reichner had 13 points in the half while totaling a team-high 16 points for the game.  Saddleback finished with four others in double figures as Jacob Simon scored 13, Rahmaan 11 and both Malachi Hiers and Michael Bichel had 10 points apiece.

Saddleback finished 8-of-18 from long range as the 80 points scored was the highest team total since scoring 81 against East Los Angeles in mid-December.

Saddleback is now 10-9 overall and 1-4 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats will host Santiago Canyon College on Friday night at 5:00 PM inside the gymnasium.