SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Playing in its first official game in over 20 months on Monday night, a highly energized SBCC men's basketball team outran and outplayed visiting El Camino en route to a 93-75 season-opening victory.
The Vaqueros' impressive pressure on the defensive end only got better throughout the night, as they forced 24 turnovers – the most in their last 20 games – which led to a crushing 32-to-11 advantage in points off mistakes.
"Our guys were really excited. November 1st was the first official day that games could be played in the state, so we made the decision – let's play on the first day," head coach Devin Engebretsen said. "It was a complete team win and a complete team effort where guys pitched in across the board."
Former San Marcos High School standout Tommy Condon led SBCC with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 2-of-4 from three-point range. Guards Wilfrid Nado (12 points) and Isaiah Hicks (10) and forward Adam Weingard (10) all reached double-figures as well.
Six Vaqueros finished with eight or more points and five tallied more than one assist in what was an all-around balanced performance.
"It was a complete team effort, and we really preach team basketball," Engebretsen said. "We're a team that really focuses on sharing the ball and getting shots off the pass instead of off the dribble, and we have a really deep team and a good bench."
Things stayed close in the early-going until the Vaqueros found separation midway through the opening half and never looked back. Condon hit a three and knocked down a pair of free throws on successive possessions, capping a 9-0 run to put SBCC up 23-14.
The Warriors would cut the deficit to five a few minutes later, but that was the closest they'd get the rest of the night. The Vaqueros took a 10-point lead into the half that would balloon to as much as 25 as they turned up the heat on both ends of the court.
"The big message at halftime was we really felt we could get to the rim whenever we wanted to," Engebretsen said. "Those guys were a little bit bigger than us, but we were quicker and a little bit faster."
That halftime message seemed to resonate with the Vaqueros. After going 4-of-15 from three in the first half, they were a much more efficient 4-of-8 from deep in the second. More importantly, their free throw numbers went from 5-for-6 over the opening 20 minutes to 16-for-21 over the final 20.
"To our guys' credit, we got to the rack and we got to the free throw line," Engebretsen said. "Hopefully we learn that we don't need to just shoot threes the whole game. We can actually get by people and make layups, get to the line and get higher percentage shots."
Brycyn Gossett finished with SBCC-highs of four steals and eight rebounds. He also added nine points on an efficient 4-of-8 shooting night.
"They started to make a run so we put our starters back in and went into a pretty aggressive press," Engebretsen said. "That really helped seal the deal. We forced quite a few turnovers in that stretch."
Despite the Warriors' apparent height advantage, Santa Barbara finished with a 43-40 edge on the boards. El Camino was held to just six offensive rebounds, while an immensely active Vaquero team finished with 16, including five from Gossett.
More than a year after being announced as the team's new coaching staff, Engebretsen and assistant coach Keani Albanez are out to a promising start, having led the Vaqueros to their first season-opening win since 2015. SBCC will be back home for its next outing on Nov. 9 against Bakersfield at 6:00 p.m.