Oxnard took control of Saturday night’s WSC North men’s basketball game with a 21-2 first-half run, then erupted for 62 points in the second half of a 105-67 victory over SBCC at the Sports Pavilion.
Gary Johnson had 32 points and eight rebounds for the first-place Condors (16-8, 8-2) while Codye Hatcher had 13 points and 18 boards. Oxnard outshot the Vaqueros 65 to 33 percent in the second half and outscored them 62-34 in the final 20 minutes after leading 43-33 at intermission.
Richard Somdah scored 18 of his 20 points in the opening half for the Vaqueros (7-18, 3-7). Somdah also had a team-high eight rebounds. Chris Vines added 18 points, five rebounds and three steals but SBCC couldn’t overcome 26 turnovers that led to 35 points for Oxnard.
“It really turned in the first half,” said coach Morris Hodges, whose team went from a 20-14 lead to a 35-22 deficit in an eight-minute span. “Most of that was fueled by a bunch of turnovers. The dam broke and we couldn’t stop it after that.
“We gave up too many second shots, didn’t have good defensive balance and we turned it over too much.”
Oxnard shot 31 more free throws, making 28-44 while the Vaqueros hit 11-13.
The Vaqueros will take on Hancock on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in their final home game of the season. That will be “Fight Cancer Night” for both the men’s and women’s teams (the women meet Hancock at 7 p.m.) with all the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
