Bench play sparks Gauchos into Fullerton finals

The Saddleback men's basketball team advanced to the Fullerton College Tournament finals on Friday night with a 78-72 win over Palomar College.  The Gaucho bench scored 36 points and advanced to the finals on Saturday where they will meet Chaffey College.

Saddleback and Palomar played to a 39-39 tie over the first 20 minutes of play, but the Gauchos went to the locker room with four starters having two fouls.  The bench picked up the slack, as Terrance Sampson finished with a team-high 15 points and De'Corrius Sampson-Young (pictured) 14 points in leading the second half charge.  Fulton scored all of his points in the second 20 minutes, making 5-of-7 shots from three-point range as three Saddleback starters fouled out of the game.  Sampson-Young made 7-of-8 free throws for the Gauchos in the second half, as Saddleback grabbed the lead at the 14:29 mark and never looked back.  Saddleback twice extended the lead to 14 points in the final eight minutes of the game, and never allowed the Comets to get closer than three points until the final minute of the game.  Sampson-Young then buried three straight free throws in the final seconds to ice the win.

Saddleback will face Chaffey in the finals after the Panthers defeated Fullerton 86-69 in the other semifinal.  The Gauchos (4-1) and Chaffey (2-0) will tip off at 7:00 pm.