SANTA MARIA – Amari Stroud's layup with 26 seconds left in overtime gave Allan Hancock the edge over SBCC in an 84-83 thriller on Wednesday night.
In a game with 15 lead changes and nine ties, five extra minutes of game time were needed after forward Billy Whitting's clutch three with a second left in regulation tied things at 77-77.
After trailing by a point coming out of halftime, the Vaqueros (5-12, 0-3) led by as many as eight points midway through the second half, thanks to a 9-2 run in which four different players scored. Point guard Wilfrid Nado put in 21 of his Vaquero season-high 35 in the second half and overtime.
With a little over two minutes remaining, a Bulldog three-pointer would put them up 77-74. Whitting's game-tying three was the only field goal of the final 2:19.
The two sides traded the lead four times in the overtime session. Stroud put the home team up 82-81 with a layup leaving 55 seconds on the clock, but after a timeout, SBCC guard Elijah Simpson returned the favor to give the Vaqueros an 83-82 advantage.
On the final possession of the game, forward Adam Weingard couldn't get his potential game-winning jumpshot to go.
Weingard and Simpson finished with 12 points apiece. The Bulldogs (9-8, 1-1) outrebounded the Vaqueros 50-27, but SBCC forced 26 turnovers while only committing 15.
Santa Barbara will be back at home this Saturday to face LA Pierce at 5:00 p.m.