PRE-GAME INTRO: San Marcos and Santa Barbara meet in the first of three Channel League clashes this season. The game is being held at Santa Barbara City College’s Sports Pavilion but the Royals are technically the home team.
The Dons are 1-0 in league play already while the Royals are 1-1. Both teams last played at the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic just before New Years, with the Dons going 3-1 and San Marcos 0-3.
GAME OVER: As good as they did to force two overtimes, San Marcos falls short, as the Dons pocket a 73-71 Channel League victory to improve to 2-0 in league.
SECOND OVERTIME: The three-pointer has been an incredible weapon for the Dons tonight, and Angel Lopez starts off the second overtime with another one for Santa Barbara. With 2:15 to go, Santa Barbara is up 71-68.
12.7 SECONDS LEFT IN OT: Dons lead 66-64 until Thayer White gets an offensive rebound and putback to force another overtime. San Marcos stays alive with another buzzer-beating shot.
END OF REGULATION: We’re going to overtime!!!! Ian Douglas drains a 3-pointer at the buzzer to complete San Marcos’ comeback and force overtime. The Royals inbounded the ball with 11 seconds on the clock. Their first 3-point attempt went long but an offensive rebound was passed back out to the top of the key to Douglas, who swished it.
4:51 REMAINING IN REGULATION: Bryce Ridenour feeds Cade Ridenour for an easy layup to bring San Marcos to within 2 of Santa Barbara at 51-49. It’s the closest the Royals have been since early in the second quarter.
START OF FOURTH: Angel Lopez starts off the quarter with the Dons’ ninth 3-pointer of the contest, putting the Dons up 51-44. Chad Ridenour responds with one for San Marcos to make it a 4-point game again. 6:31 to go.
END OF THIRD QUARTER: Santa Barbara leads 48-44 entering the final period. The Royals trimmed an eight-point deficit at halftime to four. Neither team has any players in foul trouble and each team has three team fouls.
2:00 LEFT IN THIRD QUARTER: After closing the lead to just three points, the Dons have pushed it back up to nine at 45-36. Spencer Mikles scored four points in a 9-3 run for the Dons.
5:31 LEFT IN THIRD QUARTER: Here come the Royals! San Marcos reels off seven straight to get right back in the game at 36-33.
START OF THIRD QUARTER: Chad Ridenour scores the first point of the second half on a free throw but Santa Barbara picks up right where they left off in the first half, knocking down a 3-pointer on their first possession for a 36-26 advantage.
HALFTIME: Santa Barbara holds a 33-25 at the break. Andy Busch leads Santa Barbara with 11 points and Emilio Gonzalez has eight. Thayer White leads San Marcos with 11 points. After a high scoring first quarter flowed into a more offensively challenged second period.
3:00 REMAINING IN FIRST HALF: Santa Barbara is on fire. The Dons have connected on six 3-pointers so far in the half, and are shooting a very high percentage from the field. The Dons have opened up their biggest lead of the game at 30-20.
END OF FIRST QUARTER: Santa Barbara enjoyed a solid first quarter, jumping out to a 20-12 lead on a 3-pointer from Emilio Gonzalez. But the Royals scored four points in the last 30 seconds of the quarter to halve the Dons’ lead. Thayer White led all scorers with nine points.
2:27 REMAINING IN FIRST: Brendan Fay and the Dons have opened up a seven-point lead in the early going. Brendan Fay just nailed his second 3-ball of the game to put Santa Barbara up 15-8, which led Royals head coach Jarrod Bradley to call a timeout.
4:00 MINUTES REMAINING IN FIRST QUARTER: Back and forth so far with several lead changed in the first four minutes. Both teams are shooting well, with the Dons connecting on two 3-pointers and San Marcos one already. Dons lead 10-8 with 3:31 on clock.
TIP-OFF: San Marcos has Chad Ridenour back after he missed the Holiday Classic. Ridenour is on the court at the start for the Royals.
