Furious rally falls just short in 91-86 loss to Moorpark

After trailing by 16 points with 4:11 to play on Saturday night, SBCC stormed back to within three points before falling to Moorpark 91-86 in a WSC North game at the Sports Pavilion.

The Vaqueros (1-18, 0-8) hit 7-10 from 3-point range in the opening half but still trailed 52-47. Kenneth Edwards drained a trio of 3-pointers in the first seven minutes as SBCC took a 20-13 lead. He led the Vaqueros with a career-high 16 points on 6-10 shooting, including 4-6 from 3-point land.

Moorpark (9-12, 5-4) broke open a tight game with a 19-6 run that gave the Raiders an 86-70 lead with just over four minutes remaining.

Clark Stokes (12 points, 5 assists) started a 16-3 rally by the Vaqueros with a driving layup and two free throws. Stephen Harper, who tied his season high with 14 points, then reeled off nine straight points to cut the deficit to four.

Pablo Miranda scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting and handed out five assists. Prince Arceneaux came off the bench to produce a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

"We have more depth than other teams and when we play together, the other team starts getting on their heels," said Harper, a 6-2 freshman from Redlands. "If there was a little more time, I think we would have won."

Arceneaux thought he had a steal in the backcourt but a foul was called and Raider guard J.R. Powell sank two free throws with 14.7 to go. Edwards nailed a 3-pointer from the right side, pulling the Vaqueros within three at 89-86 with 6.9 seconds left.

After a quick foul, Powell sealed the win by hitting two free throws in the double bonus. Powell led the Raiders with 19 points. Austin Howell  collected 18 points and 15 rebounds, including eight offensive.

"We really extended our pressure in the closing minutes and created some turnovers," said coach Morris Hodges. "We played really good offensively in the first half but we didn't do a good job of stopping dribble penetration. They must have had about four "and 1's" for old-fashioned 3-point plays.

"We had some critical turnovers in the second half that fueled run-out opportunities. We had good balanced scoring, we just couldn't make enough stops."

The Vaqueros will host Cuesta on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Coaches vs. Cancer game.