McCain fuels 63-61 comeback win in overtime

Alonzo McCain scored all of his career-high 20 points in the second half and overtime on Thursday night as SBCC rallied for a dramatic 63-61 men's basketball win over San Diego Miramar in the first round of the 42nd annual SBCC Classic.

Sean Keyes added 15 points and Ty Cleland had 11 for the Vaqueros (3-4), who won their third straight and improved to 3-0 at home. Keyes has scored 11, 15, 13 and 15 in his last four games.

McCain, a 5-10 sophomore guard from San Bernardino, was perfect from the field in the second half (7-7) and scored all seven of SBCC's points in overtime. He canned a pair of 3-pointers and his second one tied the game at 59 with three minutes to go in overtime. He snapped the tie by driving the left side of the lane for a layup at the 2:06 mark. After Marcus McMorris answered with a drive and basket with 31 seconds left, McCain nailed the game-winner on a driving layup with 8.5 seconds left.

"Our energy was lacking in the second half and I tried to give us some energy and get us going," said McCain, who led in assists with five. "Luckily my shots went in. That was the most aggressive game I've had all year. It felt good."

It was a career high in points for McCain, whose previous high this year was three. He scored 19 in his second collegiate contest for Santa Barbara, back on Nov. 19, 2013.

Thomas Walker, who picked up his fourth foul on a technical early in the second half, blocked a floater by McMorris OB with 2.6 left in the extra 5-minute session. Drew Peterson tried a 3 from the left corner but it missed the mark, touching off a big celebration by the Vaqueros.

"We got stops down the stretch and that was the key," McCain added. "Once we stopped them, the harder it was to throw it off our game. We were working it offensively. And our defense had them out of whack.

"Three wins in a row feels so good, especially coming from where we were last year."
 The Vaqueros took an 18-12 lead on a triple, followed by a steal and layup by Cleland. The freshman guard had all 11 of his points in the opening half. The Jets (4-5) closed on a 10-3 run, capped by a buzzer-beating 3 from Jelani Carr, to lead 22-21 at halftime.

"Our guys showed a lot of resiliency," said coach Morris Hodges. "There were a lot of things going bad but we continued to battle and we hit some big buckets. We were playing uphill all night."

Santa Barbara outscored Miramar 24-6 from the 3-point line, making 8-18 compared to 2-12 for the Jets. Miramar got to the free-throw line 32 times but made just 17 for 53.1 percent.

SBCC fell behind by 10 on several occasions in the second half and trailed by 9 (49-40) with 6:16 to play. The Vaqueros were still down by eight with 3:23 to go, then McCain drilled a 3-pointer to ignite a 13-4 run. Santa Barbara took its first lead of the second half at 56-55 with 35 seconds left on a triple from the left baseline by Keyes and a 16-foot pull-up by Keyes.

Jonathan Montez was called for a foul after grabbing a loose ball with 12.4 seconds left and McMorris hit the second of two free throws to send it into overtime. McMorris led Miramar with 17 points.

"We ran a few sets where the floor opened for Alonzo and he hit a couple of big baskets," Hodges noted. "We got down in the second half and overcame the adversity with some big plays."

In other first-round games, L.A. Valley knocked off Cypress 76-68, Victor Valley edged Irvine Valley 63-60 and Hancock outlasted Pasadena 78-74 in double OT.

The Vaqueros will take on L.A. Valley in a championship semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 11
 Game 1 -- L.A. Valley 76, Cypress 68
 Game 2 -- Victor Valley 63, Irvine Valley 60
 Game 3 -- SBCC 63, San Diego Miramar 61, OT
 Game 4 -- Hancock 78, Pasadena 74, 2 OT

Friday, Dec. 12
 Game 5 -- Pasadena vs. Irvine Valley, 3 p.m.
 Game 6 -- Cypress vs. Miramar, 5 p.m.
 Game 7 -- L.A. Valley at SBCC, 7 p.m.
 Game 8 -- Hancock vs. Victor Valley, 9 p.m.