Freshman guard Jamain Owens scored 30 points on Friday afternoon, leading Victor Valley to a 93-89 win over SBCC at the Hancock Tournament.
The Vaqueros (0-2) erased an 87-81 deficit with a 6-0 run, capped by a Zeke McMurtry layup that tied it at 87 with 52 seconds left. Drake Sueda made a layup to tie it 89-89 with 30 seconds to go before Eric Figueroa put the Rams (3-2) on top, 91-89, on a layup at the 0:05 mark.
Kile Kleiner's 3-point attempt was blocked by Alton Thompson. Rashad Grant sealed the victory by hitting two free throws with two seconds left in a game that featured seven ties and nine lead changes.
Kleiner scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half when the Vaqueros jumped ahead 15-8 and 33-21 on a 3-pointer by Michael Green. SBCC led 48-42 at intermission.
Sueda, a 6-2 freshman guard from Huntington Beach, topped the Vaqueros with 20 points, five rebounds and six assists. McMurtry added 15 points and 17 rebounds, helping Santa Barbara to a 49-41 rebound advantage.
Joseph Holden scored 13 points and Green came off the bench to toss in 13 points in 19 minutes in his Vaquero debut.
The Rams outshot the Vaqueros 46.2% to 42.4% and hit just 50% from the charity stripe (14-28). The Vaqueros nailed 10-of-24 from long distance and 23-36 free throws. The big difference was turnovers with SBCC committing 23 and the Rams just seven.
Victor Valley went on an 8-0 run to take a 75-70 lead, then the Vaqueros rallied and earned their last lead, 77-76, on a layup by Piers Donald with 3:54 to play.
The Vaqueros will take on Napa Valley on Saturday at 3 p.m.