Rico Failla scored 21 points on Saturday night and SBCC gave first-place Ventura all it could handle before falling 78-73 in a WSC North men’s basketball game at the Sports Pavilion.
Failla hit 3-4 from long range and the Vaqueros (4-15, 0-7) were 10-19 from downtown in the Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser, which drew a crowd estimated at 500.
Robert Cid scored all 14 of his points in the opening half when the Vaqueros rallied from a 26-13 deficit to pull within a point at the break, 33-32. Michael Hansen posted all 17 of his points in the second half as the Vaqueros fell behind by nine and stormed back within one, 61-60, on an 8-foot floater by Failla with eight minutes to play.
Ventura (22-5, 6-1) stretched the margin back to seven on a triple by Jon McMurray with 3:34 to play. SBCC got within four on a 3-pointer by Logan Louks with 51 ticks left but could get no closer.
The Pirates, ranked 13th in the state, started the day in a first-place tie with Hancock.
Jalani Davis had a double-double for Santa Barbara with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also had four assists as did Cid.
“Our guys were really resilient, we fought back from deficits in both halves,” said coach Morris Hodges. “The difference was we gave up too many second shots in the last two minutes.
“Robert really gave us a spark in the first half to help us come back.”
Cid, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Dos Pueblos High, scored nine points during a 15-4 run that pulled the Vaqueros within 30-28 late in the first half.
Ivan Dooley topped Ventura with 20 points while Zalmico Harmon added 16 points and seven assists. The Vaqueros outshot the Pirates 44 to 43 percent. Ventura made 9-26 from long range and hit 15-20 free throws compared to 9-12 by the Vaqueros.
SBCC travels to Cuesta on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. game.
