Pirates stunned by Spartans at the buzzer
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
MiraCosta (5-5) | 24 | 34 | 58 |
|
Orange Coast (0-10) | 29 | 27 | 56 |
COSTA MESA -- For the Orange Coast College men's basketball team, it was a holiday miracle they did NOT want to see as visiting MiraCosta nailed a 55-foot bomb at the buzzer to top the host Pirates, 58-56, on Friday inside the Peterson Gym.
What looked like a hard-fought, inspiring win for the Pirates instantly turned into a dagger to the heart and it only took four seconds to do so.
With 7 seconds remaining in the second half, Coast trailed 55-53 after a made layup by Spartan forward Travis Snider. Coast quickly inbounded the ball and with 4 seconds left, Jayden Baude nailed a running jumper and was fouled on the play. After making his free throw, Coast carried a 55-54 lead and with no timeouts remaining for the Spartans, all that was left for the guests to do was heave a beyond-half-court 3-pointer ... which Logan Ardent did from 55-feet away. His shot somehow found the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded, stunning the host Pirates as Ardent and his Spartan teammates ran all the way to the back corner of the Peterson Gym to celebrate.
Coast carried most of the quality throughout the game and led 41-28 with 13 minutes left in the game.
But MiraCosta pushed back and used a 17-3 run over the next eight minutes to lead, 45-44, with 5:14 remaining.
From there, both teams battled back and forth before Ardent's heroics in the final seconds.
Chris Obiajulu led OCC with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals, while Baude added 12 points and five rebounds. For the Spartans, Logan Mason came off the bench and led the way with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Travis Snider scored 10 second-half points to go along with a team-best 12 boards.
The Pirates will return to action on Friday up at the College of the Sequoias Classic when they take on the host Giants, beginning at 7 p.m.
