A Santa Barbara County rivalry matchup swung toward Allan Hancock as the visiting Bulldogs built a first-half lead and held off SBCC late to secure a 75-64 Western State Conference victory on Wednesday night.
At 6’9″ and possessing rare athleticism, Noah Morris took advantage of his physical edge inside on his way to 23 points and 10 rebounds. Arlind Konjuhi was similarly productive on the perimeter, connecting on 4-of-8 three-point attempts and finishing with 20 points.
“At halftime we were 1-for-9 from three-point range, so we struggled to shoot the ball,” said SBCC coach Devin Engebretsen. “You’ve got to give them credit for their length and athleticism. We had open looks, but the length and athleticism can mess with your mind a little bit.”
A layup plus the foul by Thomas Mason with 5:45 remaining in the first half tied the score at 24-24, as the ensuing free throw completed the three-point play and capped off an 8-3 run by the Vaqueros.
However, Allan Hancock responded with a 15-3 run to close out the first half and took a 39-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“I thought we did a great job of taking care of the basketball and defending without fouling,” said Allan Hancock coach Tyson Aye. “Our bigger guys are very mobile, so they can defend pretty much anybody, which makes it hard for teams. They think they have a mismatch, but a lot of times with us they don’t because our bigs are so mobile.”
In the second half, SBCC cut its deficit to 46-40 on a long two-pointer by Ramon Cota with 13:50 remaining, but the Vaqueros’ push was met by an Allan Hancock response. Mekhi Grant found Morris inside for a bucket that increased the Bulldogs’ lead to 50-40 and forced an SBCC timeout at the 12:46 mark.
A steal and fast-break layup by Jack Berry cut the SBCC deficit to 56-51 at the 8:20 mark, but a jump hook by Morris pushed the Allan Hancock lead back out to 61-51 with just under seven minutes to play.
A three-pointer by Konjuhi with 2:25 remaining put the Bulldogs ahead 70-58 and served as the dagger, as the Vaqueros failed to climb within a single-digit deficit for the remainder of the game.
With the victory, Allan Hancock improved to 15-6 overall and 4-1 in Western State Conference play. SBCC dropped to 12-9 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
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