Too many turnovers and not enough rebounds weren’t the recipe for success on Friday night as Santa Barbara City College dropped a 68-62 men’s basketball decision to Grossmont in the semifinals of the 36th annual SBCC Classic.
The Vaqueros (5-10) commited 31 turnovers, leading to 30 points, and were outrebounded 39-31, including 23-11 at the offensive end. The Griffins (3-7) used a 13-2 run to take a 51-43 lead with 11 minutes to play in the game.
“There’s no question that turnovers were the deciding factor,” said SBCC coach Morris Hodges. “You can’t turn it over 31 times and expect to win. Our defense was solid and our intensity was good. We just coughed it up too much.”
SBCC will play L.A. Valley in the third-place game on Saturday at 5 p.m. Oxnard edged Valley 61-57 in Friday’s final game to earn a spot in the 7 p.m. championship against Grossmont. Victor Valley and Cypress will battle for the consolation crown at 3 p.m.
David Lane paced SBCC with 22 points while freshman forward Richard Somdah had 10 points and eight boards. Somdah and Mark Keeten (10 points, five assists) combined for 14 turnovers with Somdah commiting eight.
Lucky Teeguarden scored five straight points, staking the Vaqueros to an early 18-7 lead. Grossmont went on a 19-4 run at that point and led 34-31 at intermission.
SBCC hit 57 percent in the second half but took 11 less shots that the Griffins. The Vaqueros were only 3-5 from the free-throw line for the game, compared to 8-15 for Grossmont.
“In spite of all that, we still had a chance at the end and that’s because we played pretty good defense,” said Hodges.
SBCC cut a 10-point deficit to four, 66-62, with 36 seconds to play on back-to-back 3-pointers by Keeten and Lane. Grossmont gave the Vaqueros a chance by missing the front end of two straight 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities but SBCC threw the ball away on its final three possessions.
“Our defense was good but I didn’t like our poise,” said Hodges. “We were very impatient on offense.”
Men’s basketball at the Sports Pavilion
Consolation semifinals
3 p.m. — Victor Valley 69, Hancock 65
5 p.m. — Cypress 63, Cañada 53
Championship semifinals
7 p.m. — Grossmont 68, SBCC 62
9 p.m. — Oxnard 61, L.A. Valley 57
Saturday, Dec. 13
3 p.m. — Consolation final: Victor Valley (7-4) vs. Cypress (6-6)
5 p.m. — Third place: SBCC (5-10) vs. L.A. Valley (7-4)
7 p.m. — Championship: Grossmont (3-7) vs. Oxnard (5-6)
