SBCC hung with Hancock for 28 minutes on Friday night before the Bulldogs got hot from beyond the 3-point arc and toppled the Vaqueros 84-76 in the semifinals of the 39th annual SBCC Classic.
Santa Barbara only had two turnovers in the opening half, which ended in a 44-44 tie. SBCC’s Chris Popov tied the game at 53-53 on a 3-pointer with 12:09 to play.
Jordan O’Byrne put the Bulldogs (7-3) ahead with a trey that ignited a 25-11 run. Hancock hit six triples during that streak, including four by O’Byrne who tossed in a game-high 34 points. The sophomore guard has hit 6-of-12 from downtown each of the last two nights and has 60 points in the tournament.
The 25-11 burst gave Hancock a 79-64 lead with 3:31 to play. The Vaqueros (2-9) scored the next nine points and pulled within six on a short bank shot by Scott Burrows with 31.4 seconds left.
Hancock put the game away with four straight free throws.
J.P. Dodson, a freshman from San Marcos High, led the Vaqueros with 14 points while Michael Hansen had 12 points and six rebounds. Eric Becker added 11 points and Scott Burrows had eight.
Alex DiManno and Kenny Edwards handed out five assists apiece.
The Vaqueros made just 28.6 percent in the second half and were outshot for the game, 46 to 38 percent.
“They were working it inside a lot more in the second half and we didn’t respond as well as we could have,” said Dodson. “They hit a lot of 3s. Hancock is a good team. If we can stay with them, we can stay with a lot of good teams.”
Hancock made 6-13 from distance in the second half and 11-26 for the game. The Vaqueros were 2-12 on second-half treys and 7-26 overall.
SBCC will play Pasadena in the third-place game on Saturday at 5 p.m., followed by the championship at 7 between Hancock and L.A. Valley. Valley beat Pasadena 72-67 in the Friday’s nightcap.
West L.A. defeated Oxnard 83-71 to advance to the 3 p.m. consolation final against Cypress, which outlasted Victor Valley 91-85.
The Vaqueros took their biggest lead at 42-38 when Becker scored on a long lob from DiManno with 1:30 to go in the first half. O’Byrne knotted the score at 44 with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
SBCC made 25 of 30 free throws and only committed seven turnovers.
“At the beginning of the second half, they went to a quick inside attack and took a six-point lead,” said coach Morris Hodges. “We have to shoot better than 28 percent. We were able to tie it (at 53) but we kept shooting perimeter shots when we should have been attacking a little more.
“We executed really well on offense in the first half. We weren’t as patient in the second half and we didn’t make some reads like we did in the first half. Hancock is a good team and that No. 15 (O’Byrne) is a tremendous shooter. He hit some big 3s that broke our back.”
