Dons Hold on to Upset No. 16 Santiago Canyon
January 4, 2023

Dons Hold on to Upset No. 16 Santiago Canyon

Santa Ana pulled off the 80-70 upset over Santiago Canyon in OEC play on Wednesday night.

Video Box Score

SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Santa Ana Men's Basketball team held on to upset the No. 16 ranked Santiago Canyon Hawks (10-5, 2-1) by a score of 80-70 in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play on Wednesday night. 

The Dons (5-9, 1-1) dominated the paint all night while limiting the Hawks to a field goal percentage of just 34.4 to collect their first OEC win of the season. 

Kelvonte Ellis led SAC in scoring with 20 points to go with six boards on the night.

Zeyu Shan added 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks while fellow starters Kody Uyesugi (12 pts) and Miles Sulka (11 pts/6 rebs) joined him in double figure scoring. 

Santa Ana also got some help from their bench as Jonavan Castellanos played one of his best games of the season with 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Court Franklin pitched in with nine points in just 14 minutes of action. 

The Dons were in control for much of the game due to a hot shooting night (56.9 fgp) with 46 points in the paint and also outrebounded the Hawks by 10 (43-33).

After trailing for most of the game, SCC made a run late to cut the lead to three (71-68) with 2:26 left in the game. But the Dons responded on the next play as Eliis went up for an emphatic putback dunk followed by a layup on the ensuing play to help close the door on the Hawks.

With the win, Santa Ana improves to 5-9 overall and hopes to take their momentum into Friday's OEC matchup against Golden West.