By Jimmy Friery
WOODLAND HILLS, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Men's Basketball team won at LA Pierce Saturday afternoon, 62-61.
It was the second time this season the Vaqueros beat Pierce by 1, the first being a 79-78 home win in mid-January. This time, they got the help of a clutch shot by Ethan Boness.
"Just super proud of this group for sticking together and staying connected and believing in each other," head coach Devin Engebretsen said.
The game began tight, with a halftime score of 29-26 Pierce. Neither team ever had more than a 5-point lead at any point in the half. Ethan Boness led the team with 9 points, shooting 3 for 4 from three.
The second half steadily got away from the Vaqueros as the deficit grew to 8 less than 5 minutes in. After getting back within 5 a few minutes later, the deficit ballooned to 11 with 5 minutes left. With 2:47 remaining, SBCC was still down 58-49.
David Coniglio made a three-point jumper, then a few possessions later pump faked that same shot and drove for an and-1 layup. However, he came down hard and was forced to leave the game. Tyler Williams made the free throw to convert the 3-point play, closing the gap to 59-57 with 1 minute remaining.
"I want to shout out to David Coniglio," Engebretsen said. "He had kind of a slow start but really picked it up in the second half." Coniglio would exit with a team-leading 15 points.
Engebretsen also made a point of emphasis on the Vaqueros' defensive vigor down the stretch, perhaps throwing Pierce out of rhythm a tad:
"We pressed every time we scored for the last 7 minutes. We trapped at the halfcourt, we scrambled them, we were just flying around—and we hadn't done that to that point. That tempo change kind of affected them."
A free throw made it 60-57 Pierce with Vaqueros possession with about 40 seconds left. Out of a timeout, Tyler Williams made a mid-range jumper to shrink the deficit to 1. Engebretsen credits Williams' leadership and poise for the make, and guiding the team in the clutch.
On the ensuing inbound, the Vaqueros tried for a steal but were forced to foul with 8 seconds remaining. Pierce would make the first free throw but miss the second, and a William Pace rebound gave SBCC the ball, down 61-59, with a chance to tie or win the game.
A few minutes prior, Ethan Boness missed an open three and subsequently was taken out of the game. He had not scored a point in the second half, missing 3 threes. Engebretsen had a question for him.
"'Hey man, are you going to make a shot for us?'" Engebretsen asked. "And [Ethan] looked at me dead in the eye and said, 'I'm going to make a shot. I'm going to hit the game winning three.'"
Now, the prophecy was about to come true. Pace outlet passed to Tyler Williams, who drove into a good position and dished to Nick Tjaden on the left wing. Tjaden immediately passed it on to the corner, where Boness was already anticipating the ball. The lefty's three was good with less than a second remaining, giving the Vaqueros a 62-61 advantage. Pierce could not get off a full-court prayer before the buzzer, solidifying the SBCC win.
Down 9 with 2:47 remaining, the Vaqueros went on a 13-3 run to end—and win—the game.
"Ethan's been stepping up his game on both ends of the floor," Engebretsen said proudly. "He's been playing better defense and he's been rebounding more. I think it's helped him shoot and free himself up."
Boness naturally finished with 12 points, second only to Coniglio's 15. Aiden Munoz had 10 points to lead all bench scorers, including 6 for 6 from the free throw line. Tyler Williams finished with 8.
William Pace had his third consecutive double-digit rebounding game, grabbing 12, and scoring 9 points. Nick Tjaden was productive, as well, with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists—taking care of the ball, too, with just 1 turnover.
"I've coached 21 years, and I don't think I've ever had a team had to deal with so much adversity," Engebretsen added. "We've taken our lumps, but in the last 3 games I think we've seen a lot of growth defensively. We've really been stressing to be more poised and not panic as much, and that last play was a perfect example of the poise that we've really been stressing and working on.
"We've got 3 [games] left and we look forward to trying to win a few of these games and end the season on a high note," he concluded.
The Vaqueros play next at home on Saturday hosting Ventura, the game being a Coaches v. Cancer fundraiser. Tip off is at 3:00 PM.
