Kile Kleiner poured in 27 points and Zeke McMurtry registered another double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday as SBCC held off Orange Coast 75-73 in the L.A. Southwest Intensity Classic.
Kleiner, a 6-5 freshman guard from Hayward, scored 19 second-half points for the Vaqueros (3-10), who erased an 11-point first-half deficit with a 33-13 run in a 14-minute span ending the first half and starting the second. They led 35-32 at the break and 45-36 early in the second half as Kleiner canned two triples in a 10-4 run to open the second half.
The Vaqueros shot a season-high 50.9% and Kleiner was on fire, hitting 9-12 from the field and 7-9 from long distance. McMurtry, a 6-5 guard from Baton Rouge, La., knocked down 10-of-16 from the field to notch his sixth double-double.
Kleiner averaged 20.6 points on 63% shooting, including 15-24 on 3's, in three games at the L.A. Southwest tourney. He leads the Vaqueros with a 17.0 scoring average and McMurtry is close behind at 16.2.
Santa Barbara took a 10-point lead, 56-46, on a 3-pointer by Joseph Holden with 13:17 to play. Holden scored 12 points while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. Kleiner hit his seventh 3-pointer to boost the margin to 11 points (71-60) with 4:04 remaining.
The Vaqueros led by seven with 1:39 to play, then the Pirates (2-11) scored five straight and pulled within a basket, 75-73, on a layup by Malik Skillern with 45 seconds left.
The Vaqueros missed three free throws in the last 41 seconds and Jonathan Ileleji missed a 3-pointer for the Pirates with 0:04 on the clock. Ileleji topped OCC with 21 points and five rebounds.
SBCC will take the next two weeks off, then host Porterville in the final home game of 2018 on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 5 p.m.