RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – James Reach scored 11 of his 33 points in overtime to help Santa Barbara City College edge past the No. 14 Chaffey College Panthers, 105-102.
"It was an incredible team effort tonight," head coach Devin Engebretsen said. "The guys played great; they bought into our game plan. Chaffey's style is unlike any other game we'll play all year – real up-tempo. They use, at most, six or seven seconds on the shot clock. It's crazy how quickly they shoot and immediately press afterward. Make or miss, they press the whole game. Our philosophy was to beat the press and run our offense."
Santa Barbara shot 63 percent from the field and 59 percent from three-point range.
The Vaqueros held one of the state's top offensive teams to just 36 points in the first half and went into halftime with a 43-36 lead. "We had a really good first half defensively," Engebretsen said.
With 1:15 remaining in the second half, the Vaqueros held a six-point lead. Chaffey's press defense forced several crucial turnovers, allowing the Panthers to tie the game and send it into overtime.
"We went to overtime and scored the first five points. We came out super hot," Engebretsen said. "But then they answered with a 5-0 run. It just went back and forth from there."
The Vaqueros secured the victory late with free throws from Ramon Cota and Will Pace. "We were just resilient the whole night," Engebretsen said.
Nick Tjaden recorded a career-high 17 assists. Cota and Finn Whipps each contributed 11 points off the bench, while Joe Ursich added 10 points and a pair of 3-pointers. Reach earned his first double-double of the season, pulling down 10 rebounds. Kyle Haughy scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Pace added 13 points and eight boards.
Santa Barbara improves to 7-9 and will open conference play at home on Wednesday, Jan. 8, against Moorpark at 7 p.m.
"Moorpark is probably one of the top two teams in our conference," Engebretsen said. "We've got our work cut out for us Wednesday at home, and hopefully we can get off to a good start in conference play."
