Rivals collide, but teams stay on course
There were low expectations for Gaucho fans coming into Wednesdays game vs. IVC, and what was expected resulted.
The Lasers (23-2, 7-0) once again looked fundamentally sound as they routed Saddleback in their 86-58 victory over the struggling team.
At halftime the Gauchos were down by 13, but by the end of the game they were down by 28.
The biggest problem for the struggling Gauchos (9-16, 1-6) was their defense.
Saddleback’s offense somewhat kept it in the game during the first half, but by the second half it faded away.
Saddleback coach Nick Booker talked about his teams focus going into the game.
“Our main focus was to try to do things that we could do well,” said Booker, “focus on possession to possession, try to keep the intensity up, and run our offense.”
There wasn’t much the team could do well in this game.
The Gauchos shot 55 percent from the field in the first, however followed that up shooting a mere 21 percent in the second half.
Their poor defensive effort increased the margin of defeat, and their offense wasn’t good enough to keep this one close.
In the first half, they allowed IVC to shoot 67 percent from the field, and 100 percent from beyond the arc.
In the second half. things didn’t get easier for the Gauchos.
Saddleback allowed IVC to follow up its offensive explosion in the first half by allowing them to shoot 56 percent from the field, and, once again, 100 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
There were four players on IVC that scored in double digits, and every player at least scored a basket for their team.
Donovan Clark was the lead scorer for Saddleback, with 16 points and 7 rebounds to add to his total. Darryl Best also had 14 of his own points, 6 of those from the charity stripe, as he shot from the line eight times.
Saddleback played hard, but not hard enough to upset the Lasers.
The Lasers played a solid game, and shot extremely well to compliment their defense.
The Gauchos will next host Riverside College (20-6, 4-2) Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
