Keyes leads Vaqueros to first win, 55-50

Sean Keyes scored all 15 of his points in the second half on Tuesday and SBCC downed Glendale 55-50 for its first men's basketball win of the year.

Cody Williams added nine points for Santa Barbara (1-4) and hit four three throws in the final 8.9 seconds to preserve the victory in the Vaqueros' home opener.

"It's a relief to get our first win," said Keyes, a 6-3 freshman from Inglewood. "We deserved it. We broke down what the other team did well. They like to run the ball-screen with No. 11.

"We had a good hard week of practice. Everybody was hungry for the win."

Alex Koutroubis had eight points and seven rebounds while 6-7 center Thomas Walker collected eight points and four boards. The Vaqueros won the rebound battle 43-35 and only committed 10 turnovers.

Juwan Thomas led Glendale (0-3) with 19 points. He hit a triple to pull the visitors within two, 47-45, with 2:17 left. Walker dropped in a 10-foot jump hook and Keyes hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to give Santa Barbara a 51-45 advantage with 30.8 seconds to go.

Dillon Biggs banked in a long 3 for the visitors, cutting the deficit to 53-50 with 3.2 seconds left.  Williams was fouled immediately and he iced it with two free throws with 1.6 on the clock. Williams made 4-5 free throws and Keyes was 5-7.

"We played good first halves in our previous games but we hadn't been able to put two good halves together," said coach Morris Hodges. "We started off well and they fought back. A real key in the second half was when they started off on that 11-0 run, we were able to respond.

"We made some substitutions and our bench play was excellent."

SBCC's reserves outscored their counterparts 21-7.

Santa Barbara hit three triples in the first four minutes and opened an early 11-2 lead. Walker hit two straight buckets to make it 15-4, then Glendale responded with a 9-0 run to pull within two at 15-13. The hometown Vaqueros (the teams use the same nickname) hit 6-12 from 3-point range in the first half and led 28-21 at the break.

Glendale came out strong in the second half, opening with an 11-0 burst. The visiting Vaqueros took their biggest lead, 31-28, on a driving layup and free throw by Biggs.

SBCC struck back with a 12-2 run, ignited by a 3-pointer from Justin Holden. A 14-foot baseline jumper by Keyes stretched the margin to 40-33 with nine minutes to go.

"When you can get a win when you haven't had one in a while, it's good for everyone's confidence," said Hodges.

SBCC will host El Camino on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5 p.m.