SBCC forced 23 turnovers and outscored Victor Valley 27-3 at the 3-point line on Saturday night but the Rams still came away with a 66-62 men’s basketball victory in the third-place game of the 37th annual SBCC Classic.
David Lane had 18 points and four assists for the Vaqueros (4-8) while Daniel Koches tossed in 15 points. They both hit 3-of-6 from 3-point land but the team only made 2-14 from distance in the second half. Victor Valley prevailed in the shooting (52.7 to 33.8 percent) and rebound (43-35) battles.
After trailing 38-31 at halftime, the Vaqueros briefly took the lead at 43-42 on a triple by Lucky Teeguarden with 15:40 to play. Victor Valley (4-5) got 21 points from all-tourney choice Alan Alston and 15 from Randy Oronez. The Rams led 63-58 with 1:40 to go and SBCC got within two, 64-62, on a 3-pointer by Koches but couldn’t get any closer.
Barstow (6-3) claimed its first Classic crown with an exciting 72-67 win over defending champion Oxnard. Vincent Fisher had 16 points while tourney MVP Martez Walker and all-tournament pick Ray Mitchell had 13 apiece.
The Vikings built a 50-32 lead with 13 minutes to play before Oxnard stormed back and cut it to three, 66-63, on a pair of free throws by James Ennis with 1:04 remaining. Barstow secured the win by hitting 5-6 free throws in the final 44 seconds.
Robert Brown led six L.A. Valley players in double figures with 20 points, leading the Monarchs to the consolation title with a 111-103 decision over Cypress.
Martez averaged 20 points to earn the MVP award. He was joined on the all-tournament team by his teammate Ray Mitchell, Alan Alston of Victor Valley, Ennis and Philip Holmes of Oxnard and Pierre Prince of L.A. Valley.
