Mark Keeten scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half Saturday night in Santa Maria, helping the SBCC men’s basketball team down Hancock 76-68 for its fifth straight victory.
“We played an exceptional first half,” said Vaquero coach Morris Hodges. “We played good pressure defense and shot the ball well.”
SBCC (10-12, 2-0 WSC North) led 45-26 at intermission thanks to 8-17 shooting from 3-point range. Hancock (7-14, 0-2) had 12 first-half turnovers leading to 15 Vaquero points.
David Lane had 17 points and five rebounds while Richard Somdah contributed eight points and New Zealand’s Ezra Fantl had seven. Somday and Fantl grabbed five boards while Keeten handed out five assists.
Santa Barbara shot 48.4 percent for the game (30-62) and finished with nine 3-pointers.
The Vaqueros will travel to San Luis Obispo on Wednesday to take on Cuesta. SBCC started its current five-game win streak with a 77-72 win over Cuesta, ranked No. 7 in the state at the time, on Dec. 29 at the Hancock Tournament. Cuesta upset 14th-ranked Ventura on the road in its WSC opener last Wednesday.
