SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Men's Basketball team beat LA Pierce at home Wednesday night, 79-78. The win gives the Vaqueros their first conference win with a week off before their next game.
The final score was not indicative of how close the game was for most of the contest, as Pierce never held a lead. Truman Teuber hit a three to start the game, and the Vaqueros would hold that lead for the remainder of the game.
Ethan Boness immediately went on a heater, sinking a three-pointer on back-to-back-to-back Vaqueros possessions to give SBCC a 12-2 lead. Pierce then fought back to make it a 1-point game, but the Vaqueros responded with a 10-0 culminating in a 24-13 lead halfway through the first half.
The Vaqueros would steadily add to their lead, controlling the flow and ending the half up 41-24. Ethan Boness led all scorers with 14, but an even better sign came via David Coniglio's 9 points off the bench in 9 minutes. It was Coniglio's first game action in over a month—since December 9 against Oxnard.
Both teams traded buckets out of the break, but SBCC's lead ballooned to 24 after Aiden Munoz converted a four-point play and Truman Teuber made a couple free throws, as well.
The Vaqueros lead lingered within the teens for most of the second half, but Pierce slowly came back to just a 9-point deficit with 4 minutes remaining. However, the visitors could not chip away that significantly, and SBCC still held a 7-point lead with 45 seconds left.
The game turned into a free throw contest, and neither team was that reliable from the line. The Vaqueros shot just 5 for 12 in free throws in the last 45 seconds, but thankfully the 5 was exactly what they needed. SBCC bent but did not break to thwart the Pierce comeback 1 point short, earning a 79-78 victory.
The Vaqueros shot well from the field on the night, though, which ultimately was the difference in the game. Shooting 51% overall and 44% (8 for 18) from three will keep any team in the game, despite the fact that SBCC was outrebounded and committed more turnovers than Pierce.
David Coniglio was phenomenal off the bench, leading the team with 21 points in limited minutes, also grabbing 6 rebounds. Ethan Boness embraced his skillset, shooting strictly three-pointers (4 for 7, 57%) and free throws to the tune of 15 points.
Truman Teuber was steady for the Vaqueros, scoring 12 points and leading the team with 8 rebounds—as a guard, no less. Nick Tjaden also played his role well, dishing 9 assists. Fray Villalta-Guevara had 9 points off the bench with 4 rebounds, as well.
The win gives the Vaqueros—who are starting to get a little more healthy—a 1-2 conference record with a week off to get even more healthy. The next matchup comes at 2-1 Ventura next Wednesday at 5:00 PM.
