SANTA BARBARA – The SBCC men's basketball team enjoyed its largest win in four weeks on Friday, defeating Pasadena 85-73 on day two of the SBCC Holiday Classic.
The Vaqueros (5-8) came into the game with a renewed emphasis on sharing the ball and the results showed as they put up a season-high 23 assists. Four of SBCC's five starters had at least three helpers, led by point guard Wilfrid Nado's six.
Forwards Brycyn Gossett (7-10 FG) and Adam Weingard (6-11) paced the home side with 18 points each. They also led all players with 10 and eight rebounds, respectively, seeing Gossett record his first double-double of the year.
Assuming an increased role for the fourth straight game, guard Elijah Simpson showed out once again, tallying 17 points on an excellent 6-of-8 shooting day, including 2-for-2 on threes. He also added four assists and four steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Half
- Nado and forward Billy Whitting helped Santa Barbara get out to an early 7-point lead, playing a part in all of SBCC's early baskets. Whitting nearly put down a highlight fast break dunk that ended up in a JJ Fain jumper, making it 16-9 about eight minutes in.
- The Vaqueros headed into halftime with a comfortable 38-30 lead after shooting 46.7 percent in the opening half.
��SBCC 38-30 Pasadena
— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqs) December 10, 2021
Vaquero highlights from the 1st half on Day 2 of the 2021 SBCC Holiday Classic!
Gossett - 8 pts, 4 reb
Simpson - 7 pts, 2 asts pic.twitter.com/wGWR5UW1U5
2nd Half
- SBCC opened the second half on a 17-5 run to go up 55-35. Simpson contributed to 9 of the 17 points, making plays on both ends as he darted into passing lanes, finished at the basket and the foul line, and knocked down a corner three.
- Pasadena answered with a 14-0 run as the Vaqueros went cold, cutting the lead to 55-49 with 11:33 to go.
- After going scoreless in the opening half, Weingard got hot to help push the lead back to double-digits. His layup at the 10:31 mark ended a stretch of five minutes without a SBCC bucket. That started an 8-0 run to go back up 14, 63-49, and the Vaqueros cruised the rest of the way.
��VAQS WIN! SBCC 85, Pasadena 73
— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqs) December 11, 2021
Gossett 18 pts, 10 reb
Weingard 18 pts, 8 reb
Simpson 17 pts, 4 stl, 4 ast
�� Vaqueros play Long Beach tomorrow at 3pm in their final game of the 2021 SBCC Classic pic.twitter.com/xuYGsQSo4T
NOTABLE
- SBCC shot over 50 percent as a team for the second time this season (50.8%). Both times, it has happened against Pasadena; the Vaqueros' season-high 53.8 percent mark came in an 87-66 win over the Panthers back on Nov. 12.
- Simpson's production has seen a remarkable increase over his last four outings. He is averaging 17 points on 58.6 percent (24-41 FG) shooting to go along with four steals and 2.2 assists per game.
- On a day where the Vaqueros reached new heights in the assist department, they also set a season-high in rebounds with 50. It was their highest rebound total in their last 27 games.
- Santa Barbara hasn't just emphasized sharing the ball – the Vaqueros have also made it a point to not settle for outside shots. They attempted a season-low 11 three-pointers (4-11 3FG) tonight, but had their third-most free throw attempts (21-29 FT).
- The Vaquero starters carried the team on the day, accounting for 61 of their 85 points (71.8%). It was the second-most points the starting unit has scored this year.
QUOTABLE - Head Coach Devin Engebretsen
- THE GAME – "I'm trying to have these guys understand the relationship between sharing the ball, where everybody touches it, and how that energizes your defense. We haven't been playing really great D because lately we've had too many 1-pass-shot or no-pass-shot possessions. When nobody touches the ball, it's hard to be excited to play D. We had a really good shootaround this morning where we really talked about sharing the ball, and the proof is in the pudding today where we had 23 assists on 30 baskets, so that's a major a difference.
- ON ELIJAH SIMPSON – Since Jaelen Bates got hurt in the DVC game, Elijah has really started to blossom. In that game, he basically won it for us. He knows and we all know, he can virtually get to the basket any time he wants with his quickness. Over the last couple days now, he's starting to hit his threes, and if he can knock down shots, that's going to open up his game even more, because now people have to respect his jumper. We've also asked him to be more of a defender, and he's just getting better in a lot of ways.
NEXT UP
- Tomorrow, the tournament hosts close the SBCC Classic in the consolation bracket championship game against Long Beach at 3:00 p.m.
