Williams gets season-high 29 in 74-62 setback

Tejon Williams poured in 21 of his season-high 29 points in the second half on Saturday night but SBCC came up short in a 74-62 men's basketball loss to Moorpark at the Sports Pavilion.

Williams, a 6-1 guard, made 10-of-19 from the field and 4-5 from 3-point land. Evan Tillman added 16 points and a season-best 14 rebounds for the Vaqueros (7-17, 2-8).

Williams has scored 28, 23 and 29 in his last three games for an average of 26.7.

Reggie Dixon topped Moorpark (19-8, 8-3) with 24 points and eight rebounds. The Raiders led 28-22 at the half, then outshot the Vaqueros 55.6 to 38.2 percent in the second half.

Moorpark moved into first in the WSC North, a half-game ahead of Cuesta and Ventura (7-3).

The Raiders used their full-court press and defense to force 17 turnovers, leading to 24 points.

"They really hurt us with dribble-penetration," said SBCC coach Morris Hodges. "We weren't stepping over and helping, that was the real difference. It wasn't like they were making a lot of 3's."

The last time these teams played, Moorpark drained 17 3-pointers and the Vaqueros made 13 in a 103-82 Raider victory on Jan. 20. On Saturday night, the Vaqueros hit 6-of-21 while the Raiders were just 1-7.

Moorpark took its biggest lead of 14 points (36-22) on a three-point play by Jeremiah Gray early in the second half. Williams drilled three straight triples to pull the Vaqueros within seven at 38-31.

SBCC kept chipping away and put together a 16-5 run to take the lead at 51-50 with 8:32 to go. The run was capped by a 3-pointer from Robert Hutchins, a reverse layup by Jerry Leon and two free throws from Tillman.

Thirty seconds later, Leon gave the Vaqueros another lead (53-52) with a pair of free throws. Moorpark stole the ball in the backcourt and Joshua Brooks dunked it to ignite a 9-0 run that put the Raiders ahead to stay at 61-53.

Moorpark hit 15-21 from the free-throw line in the second half while the Vaqueros were 9-10.

"Tejon and Evan both played well (combining for 45 of 62 points)," Hodges noted. "Moorpark was extending the press to try to speed us up a little bit. We mishandled the ball a few times. We had talked about trying to slow it down and not being rushed."

The Vaqueros travel to Ventura on Wednesday, then finish the season with a home date vs. L.A. Pierce on Saturday at 7 p.m.