Community College Basketball : Orange Coast to Play Cerritos

Orange Coast College concludes its regular season tonight when the Pirates play host to first-place Cerritos in a South Coast Conference basketball game at 7:30.

Teams placing second through fifth in the SCC qualify for the Shaughnessy playoffs. The Pirates (8-7 in conference, 17-12 overall) are currently in fourth. They could clinch a playoff spot by upsetting the Falcons (13-1, 22-4).

But even if Orange Coast loses, the Pirates will probably make the playoffs because the teams trailing them would have to finish better than 8-8 in conference.

Fifth-place Cypress (7-7, 13-11) plays Mt. San Antonio tonight and Cerritos on Wednesday. Saddleback (6-8, 16-12), which is tied for sixth with Compton, plays host to Santa Ana (2-12, 10-17) tonight and plays Compton on Wednesday. Compton (6-8, 11-13) will be an underdog tonight when it plays Fullerton (11-3, 17-10).

Orange Coast lost to Cerritos, 62-59, in the first round of SCC play. In that game, the Falcons had a 22-point lead early in the second half.

The Pirates are led by guard-forward Shaughn Ryan, who is averaging 17.6 points per game.