SBCC parlayed hot second-half shooting and a 14-6 closing run to rally past Cuesta 70-67 on Wednesday night in a WSC North men’s basketball game at the Sports Pavilion.
Santa Barbara shot 62.5 percent in the second half (10-16) and 53.5 percent for the game. The Vaqueros (7-14) completed the first round of conference play with a 3-3 record. Cuesta is 11-12 and 2-4.
Sophomore forward Richard Somdah hit 6-9 from the field and 4-5 from the free-throw line to lead all scorers with 18 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds, sharing game-high honors with teammate Josh Guild.
The Vaqueros led 12-3 in the early going and 36-30 at the half. Cuesta used a 13-2 run to take a 61-56 lead with 5:53 to play. Then Chris Vines took over with two driving layups and a one-hand jam that gave SBCC a 66-64 lead with 2:48 to go.
“We did a good job of keeping our composure,” said coach Morris Hodges. “We did a tremendous job on No. 44. We really focuse and followed our defensive plan. We forced them to go to other guys and made them do things they hadn’t done throughout the year.”
No. 44 was Malte Kramer, a 6-7 freshman from Germany, who entered with a 21-point scoring average — the third-best in the WSC. But SBCC’s defense caused him to miss all seven of his first-half shots and he finished with eight points.
Vines had 12 points and six rebounds. Scott Burrows and Guild were big contributors off the bench with the former getting 11 points and six boards and the latter seven points and eight rebounds. SBCC won the rebound battle 43-31.
Burrows was 3-3 from beyond the 3-point arc. Point guard Malik Bradley added seven points and five assists.
Vines hit two free throws to make it 69-66 with 18.7 second left and after a Cuesta free throw, the former San Marcos High standout made 1-2 from the line for the final three-point margin.
Kramer got off a desperation 3-pointer just before the buzzer that came up short.
SBCC will host Moorpark on Saturday at 5 p.m.
