SANTA BARBARA – In a game in which neither team led by more than seven points, the SBCC men's basketball team pulled out a 77-72 home win over LA Pierce.
Forward Aidan Mandel led the way with a season-high 26 points, scoring inside at will with another season-best 12-of-15 mark from the field. He also had 12 rebounds. It was his third 25-10 double-double of his freshman year.
Off the bench, freshman guard Truman Teuber made an impact, knocking down 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 on threes for his own season-high of 13 points. Sophomore point guard Wilfrid Nado had 11 as well with six assists.
The game remained close throughout, with LA Pierce (0-24, 0-8) taking its largest lead 27-22 late in the first half. The Vaqueros (10-15, 5-4) turned it on from there, carrying momentum into the second half as Mandel knocked down back-to-back jumpers to cap a 21-9 run, putting his team up 43-36.
Pierce answered with a 13-4 spurt to take a two-point lead. The two teams continued trading the lead until with 1:18 remaining, Teuber put in a game-tying layup to make it 72-72.
Mandel came up with a big blocked shot in the final minute and sophomore Elijah Simpson snagged a huge steal. Coming out of a tiemout, the Vaqueros took a 75-72 lead on a clutch go-ahead triple by Nado. Pierce missed two big free throws with nine seconds left and the Vaqueros put the game away at the line.
On a quiet scoring night, Simpson found other ways to contribute. He led all players with a career-high eight assists and finished one rebound short of a personal-best with six. Rounding out the starting lineup, Tyler Williams and Jaelen Bates both put in eight points.
