SBCC built a 15-point halftime lead on Friday night, then Lewayne Grant and DeAndre Stallings combined for 27 second-half points to spark Columbia to a 75-72 win in the consolation semifinals of the 44th annual SBCC Classic.
Robert Hutchins scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half when the Vaqueros (2-8) snapped a 20-20 tie with a 25-8 run. Josh Chapital's 3-pointer made it 45-28 with 4:25 to go. Two minutes later, the lead grew to 18 points (49-31) on an 8-foot floater by Hutchins.
Santa Barbara led 51-36 at the break, thanks to a 62.1 to 36.1 percent shooting advantage and 7-13 accuracy from the 3-point line. Hutchins scored 18 points on 7-10 shooting, including 4-6 from long range.
Hutchins is the No. 4 scorer in the state with a 21.5 average. He's scored 20 or more in three straight games and six of the last eight.
The Claim Jumpers (4-5) got a game-high 25 points from Grant and 15 from Stallings. They shot 53.3 percent in the second half and outscored SBCC 39-21.
Jesse DeVries added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Vaqueros while Ben Clay had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. SBCC outshot Columbia 50.9 to 43.9 percent for the game and won the rebound battle, 36-29. The Vaqueros assisted on 16 of 18 baskets in the first half and 22 of 27 for the game, led by Drayten Howell and DeVries with five apiece.
"We did an exceptional job of moving the ball against the zone and we got great shots by going inside-out," said Vaquero coach Morris Hodges. "We also did a really good job defensively in our man-to-man and that fueled some of our transition buckets."
Ethan McLaurin added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Claim Jumpers, who only commited five turnovers. Amazingly, there were only two free throws shot in the last 20 minutes.
Columbia opened the second half on a 19-2 run with Grant scoring eight points. His left-handed layin on the fast break put the visitors ahead 55-53 with 12:54 to play.
"We got out of character offensively and weren't as organized as we were in the first half," noted Hodges. "At the start of the second half, we had three turnovers in our first four possessions. We knew they're a good 3-point shooting team and it would be a dogfight in the second half."
It was back-and-forth the rest of the way with neither team leading by more than five points.
Grant hit two straight layups for a 72-67 lead with 3:11 to play. The Vaqueros countered witth a 3-pointer by Chris Givens and a 4-foot hook shot by Ben Clay that tied the game at 72 with 34 seconds left.
Stallings, a 6-8 sophomore from Galt, Calif., tossed in a long 3-pointer from the right side for a 75-72 lead with 7.5 seconds left. He was 5-12 on 3's in the game and 4-9 in the second half when his team hit 7-17 from long range.
Hutchins got a good look at a 3 from the right side but it glanced off the back rim as time expired. The Vaqueros suffered their second 3-point loss in two nights on a late 3-point basket.
"Robert got a great look at the end," said Hodges. "It was a one-possession game. We've still got some things to clean up but we're playing real hard and we're competitive. We just have to keep working on our execution at both ends of the floor."
Oxnard raced past L.A. Valley 92-83 and will take on Columbia in the consolation final on Saturday at 3 p.m. Grossmont topped Desert 78-66 on Friday night to move into Saturday's Classic final at 7 p.m.
The Griffins (7-5) will face Bakersfield (8-5), which knocked off San Diego Miramar 69-64 in Friday's final game. Miramar and Desert will clash in the third-place game at 5 p.m.
