LOS ANGELES, Calif. – In its first game at the LA Valley Tournament on Wednesday, the SBCC men's basketball team set an early season-high knocking down 11 three-pointers to defeat the host Monarchs 77-70.
The Vaqueros (2-1) were led in scoring for the second time by forward Tommy Condon with 14 points (3-8 3FG). Jaelen Bates had an excellent showing at the point, posting a season-high 13 points (6-8 FG) to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
"I just can't say enough about the entire team playing for each other," head coach Devin Engebretsen said. "Not ever a single thought of playing for themselves or trying to get their own shots. Complete team effort sharing the ball, defending, and picking each other up."
It was a back-and-forth game from the outset, with both sides alternating throwing punches in the form of extended runs. SBCC went on a 17-6 spurt to take its largest lead of the first half at 26-17 with 6:18 to go before the break.
Midway through the second half, forward Luke Sinclair finished a 1-on-1 fast break with a tremendous eurostep into a lefty layup. That gave the Vaqueros their largest lead of the day, 54-43, forcing a timeout and sending the bench wild. However, the Monarchs (0-1) immediately answered with 11 unanswered points, eventually taking a 63-59 lead with 6:51 to go.
Soon after, Condon came up huge scoring six straight. He came off a screen and attacked the basket to put SBCC back up one with a three-point play and knocked down a triple on the next play.
With under two minutes to go, guards Wilfrid Nado and Bates helped seal the deal with a three and another jumper to give the Vaqueros separation and a commanding nine-point lead.
"This was another game where they were bigger and more athletic than us, but we really take pride on being basketball players, and having a high basketball IQ," Engebretsen said. "We understand what we're good at and what we do well in terms of offensive execution in the halfcourt and also pushing the ball."
Forward Billy Whitting had another solid outing, putting up 12 points (4-7 FG) and hitting 2-of-4 from range. Nado and forward Brycyn Gossett went for eight and seven points, respectively, combining to go an efficient 6-of-9 from the field.
"Tonight, total team win. Everybody contributed in one way or another," said Engebretsen. "We had guys come off the bench and hit big shots, get big rebounds. Our bench was so enthusiastic all night."
On a day where the Vaqueros went just 6-for-7 (85.7%) on free throws, SBCC had its best shooting night through three games, hitting 48.4% of its attempts and going 11-of-29 (37.9%) from deep.
At 2-1, Engebretsen and the Vaqueros are now out to their best three-game start in over eight years. Aside from his overwhelming praise for the team as a unit, SBCC's head coach was particularly proud of the work done by Jaelen Bates, who took his pre-game instruction to heart before putting together his best performance yet in a Vaquero jersey.
"In terms of running the show, he played really within himself. He played so awesome," Engebretsen said. "He just dictated the tempo, dictated the flow, came off ball screens super tight. He chose the right moments to pull up and hit his jumper, to get to the rim and hit layups, and to distribute when he read the defense collapse. What a tremendous game by Jaelen as a point guard."
Santa Barbara will play again at the LA Valley Tournament this Friday at 3:00 p.m. against Pasadena City.