Second Half Surge Sinks SBCC Men's Basketball Against Cuesta

SANTA BARBARA – Against a Cuesta team fresh off a win against the No. 12 team in the state, the SBCC men's basketball team led midway through the second half but couldn't stop the Cougars down the stretch in a 72-60 defeat.

Forward Adam Weingard was a bright spot, finishing with 22 points – two shy of a season-high – for his second 20-point performance of the year.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st Half

• The Vaqueros (5-11, 0-2) looked sharp off the opening tip. Some precise team passing led to a Luke Sinclair layup on the first play. Elijah Simpson finished off a textbook fast break off the pass from Weingard to put them up 4-0 on the next play.
• That started a huge early advantage in points off turnovers for the Vaqueros, who were at their best turning mistakes into points for a 12-2 edge in the opening half.
• With SBCC trailing 10-6, forward Billy Whitting turned his jumper on automatic. He hit back-to-back threes to start an 8-1 Vaquero run and hit another pull-up from 15 feet out giving the home side a 16-13 lead.
• Forward Jon Pearson converted a couple of buckets in the paint to give SBCC its largest lead of the opening half of seven. The Vaqs went into halftime with a slim 32-28 advantage, outshooting the Cougars 48.3 to 33.3 percent.

2nd Half

• Cuesta (6-11, 1-0) made three of its first five tree-point attempts out of the break to take a 43-38 lead. Weingard opened the half hitting 3-of-4 threes himself to put SBCC back up, and forward Brycyn Gossett scored to make it 46-43.
• From there, it was all Cuesta, as the Cougars started hitting everything and forcing a frustrated SBCC offense into turnovers with a zone defense. It was an 18-2 run for the visitors as they took a 61-48 advantage to pull away for good.

�� SBCC 60, Cuesta 72@VaqueroMBB was led by Adam Weingard's 22 points, but couldn't stop the Cougars down the stretch.

Recap: https://t.co/pKo9SPeLq4 pic.twitter.com/5cI6hawrqE

— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqs) January 13, 2022

NOTABLE

• Both teams were lights out from the outside in half two, as Cuesta hit 7-of-15 (46.7%) and SBCC made 6-of-13 (46.2%). Weingard accounted for nearly every Vaquero three, hitting 5-of-9 over the final 20 minutes.
• The difference came in the turnover department, where the Cougars had three to Santa Barbara's 12 in the second half.
• Nado and Whitting put in eight points apiece, while Pearson and Simpson both finished with six. Simpson also led all players with four steals and two blocks, also posting an SBCC-high five assists.

NEXT UP
The Vaqueros next game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. tipoff at Allan Hancock next Wednesday, Jan. 19.