Jackson, Mejia guide Vaqueros to first win, 60-57

Dejon Jackson and Aaron Mejia combined for 35 points on Friday afternoon, leading SBCC past Cypress 60-57 in the consolation semifinals of the Monterey Bay Classic men's basketball tournament.

Jackson, a 6-6 freshman from Oxnard, scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He hit 6-10 from the field and 8-11 from the free-throw line. Mejia, a freshman guard from Montebello, racked up 15 points, thanks to 5-10 shooting from the 3-point arc.

The Vaqueros (1-7) shot 47.5 percent from the field and 50 percent (8-16) from long range. Cypress (1-6) hit 37.7 percent from the floor and just 52.2 percent on free throws (12-23).

Santa Barbara led 32-31 at halftime, then stretched the margin to 11 points (46-35) with a 14-4 run to open the second half.

Ryan Smith (4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) hit a key 15-footer with less than two minutes to play. Drayten Howell canned 3-of-4 free throws in the last 52 seconds.

Howell had nine points, nine assists and three steals for the Vaqueros. Jerard O'Byrne added nine points on 3-4 shooting from downtown. Donald Grant had seven rebounds.

The Vaqueros will take on Hartnell (4-1) for the consolation title on Saturday at 11 a.m.