L.A. Pierce parlayed a hot first half into an 81-68 men’s basketball victory over SBCC on Wednesday night in Woodland Hills. The Brahmas (3-14, 1-5 WSC North) hit 60 percent in the opening half, including 5-7 on 3-pointers, to build a 50-31 lead.
Eric Becker had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Vaqueros (3-18, 0-6), who shot 38.3 percent and hit only 50 percent of their free throws (18-36). SBCC trailed by 26 (64-38) with 11:30 to play before cutting the deficit to nine at 77-68 with a minute to go.
JP Dodson collected 13 points and five rebounds while Chris Popov had 10 points. Pierce shot 51 percent for the game and converted 21 of 27 foul shots. The Brahmas were 6-10 from downtown while the Vaqueros were 4-22.
“They shot it well at the beginning (5-7 on 3-pointers in the first half) and our defensive transition was poor,” said coach Morris Hodges. “We got to the free-throw line a lot but didn’t do much to help ourselves.”
After a bye on Saturday, the Vaqueros open the second round of conference at Oxnard on Feb. 1.
