Second-half surge lifts Cuesta over Vaqueros, 69-60

Cuesta took control with a 12-2 second-half run on Saturday night and went on to defeat SBCC 69-60 in a WSC North men's basketball game at the Sports Pavilion.

The Vaqueros (4-11, 0-3) erased a 30-24 halftime deficit with a 16-8 burst to open the second half. Sean Keyes scored eight points in the first 2½ minutes and Thomas Walker hit back to back layups to give Santa Barbara its first lead, 40-38, with 14:54 to play. Benat Hevia, who scored 15 points, hit a 3-pointer to ignite the 12-2 run for the Cougars.

Hevia, a freshman guard from Spain, hit another triple to cap the run and boost the Cuesta lead to 50-42. SBCC got within four on a 3-pointer by Justin Holden a minute later but could get no closer.

The teams combined for 66 3-point attempts with Cuesta (13-7, 3-1) hitting 11-of-36 and the Vaqueros 7-30. Keyes was 4-15 from downtown and Holden hit 2-4. Neither team shot well from the field with the visitors making 37.3 percent and Santa Barbara 34.8 percent.

Keyes led SBCC with 19 points while Walker had 18 points (on 9-14 shooting) and eight rebounds. Tayler Thompson, a 6-9 sophomore, led the Cougars with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Evgeniy Moiseev had 15 rebounds, helping Cuesta win the battle of the boards 50-38.

"We played good defense and that was our main focus," said SBCC coach Morris Hodges. "We were right there. They played zone the whole game and we had a lot of open looks but we couldn't knock them down.

"Tommy had a good game inside and Sean had a good game overall. We just didn't shoot well enough."

Jonathan Montez had eight rebounds, including five offensive, and four assists. Holden added eight points for the Vaqueros, who committed a season-low five turnovers.

Hevia and Keshawn Liggins had six assists each for the Cougars, who only used six players and three of them played all 40 minutes. The Cougars converted 14-17 free throws while the Vaqueros were 5-9.

Cuesta beat the Vaqueros earlier this season by three points (59-56) on Dec. 29 at the Hancock Tournament.

SBCC will play two road games next week – Wednesday at Ventura and Friday at Hancock. Both games tip off at 5 p.m.