Santa Rosa produced a steal and layup in the final seconds of regulation and overtime on Saturday to hand SBCC a 74-72 men’s basketball loss in the consolation final of the Monterey Bay Classic.
Sophomore guard Steven Saenz scored 20 points for the Vaqueros (3-7), giving him four straight games of at least 20. Chris Vines had 11 points and six rebounds, Malik Bradley scored 11 and Josh Guild added eight points and seven boards.
Santa Barbara led 36-31 at halftime and the game was tied at 66 through 40 minutes. Guild scored a bucket on an assist from Eric Braun to give SBCC a 72-70 lead with 1:15 to go in overtime. But the Bear Cubs (7-4) tied it up, then went ahead with a steal and layup with three seconds left.
SBCC missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Richard Somdah, a 6-3 sophomore who’s averaging close to 20 points, missed the contest with an ankle injury.
“We played well, we just had some critical mistakes down the stretch,” said coach Morris Hodges. “Our team defense was good and we moved it around on offense.”
SBCC shot 39.4 percent and nailed 10-of-33 from 3-point land.
The Vaqueros will host the 38th annual SBCC Classic, an eight-team tournament that starts on Thursday. They open against West L.A. at 7 p.m.
