SANTA ANA, Calif. – In a low scoring, grind it out game, the Santa Ana men's basketball team held off the Rio Hondo Roadrunners (2-5) for a 66-62 win on Wednesday night.
Santa Ana didn't shoot it particularly well as a team but got big contributions from some key role players.
Sean Githens came off the bench to give the Dons a much needed scoring punch. The sophomore from Canyon High put in 13 points while grabbing nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Freshman guard Nick D'Amato was steady all night as he scored a season high 12 points of 5-7 shooting with two assists. And Josh Danque knocked down a couple threes in just nine minutes to give SAC another boost off the bench.
Although the Dons' leading scorers had a rough night from the field, Ramon Lopez and Jalani Horn combined for 26 points. Lopez went for 16 points and added four assists while Horn had a game high 17 boards to go with 10 points.
Santa Ana appeared to be in control for most of the night, building an early first half lead and went into the break up 30-19. In the second half, they continued that trend and saw their lead grow to as much as 17 (42-25) after Anthony Inocencio hit a three at the 14:38 minute mark.
But a scrappy Roadrunner team would not go away easily and chipped away possession by possession to cut the lead to two points (64-62) with 11 seconds left in the game.
Following a Santa Ana timeout, the Dons got the ball in to Lopez, who put the game away with two clutch free throws.
The Dons improved to a record of 2-2 with their second consecutive win while Rio Hondo dropped to 2-5 overall.
NEXT UP: Santa Ana men's basketball will match up with LA Trade Tech (3-2) on day one of the West LA College Tournament on December 5th. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.
