Ventura rallies past Vaqueros in a shootout, 96-91

Sophomore guard Elijah Brown scored 24 of his career-high 43 points in the second half on Saturday night, leading Ventura to a 96-91 win over SBCC in the Sports Pavilion.

The Vaqueros (6-13, 1-4) shot 61 percent in the opening half and took a 50-41 lead on a 3-pointer by Jerry Leon with 1.8 seconds to go. Trevor LaCount, a 6-6 freshman, scored 10 of his 22 points in the first seven minutes of the second half as the Pirates (13-8, 3-2) used a 22-9 run to take the lead for good at 63-59.

Evan Tillman, a 6-8 freshman forward, hit 13-of-20 from the field and 3-5 from the 3-point line en route to a season-high 33 points for Santa Barbara. Tillman, who scored 20 in the first half, grabbed nine rebounds and played all 40 minutes.

"I really felt comfortable out there, I got some great looks and knocked them down," said Tillman. "My teammates did a great job of looking for me. We had some mishaps on D in the second half and I feel I should have stepped up and played a little better. I could have crashed the offensive boards a little harder."

Six of Tillman's nine rebounds came at the offensive end.

Tejon Williams had 19 points, five rebounds and nine assists for the Vaqueros. Robert Hutchins tallied 13 of his 17 points in the second half. Leon hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored a season-best 13 points.

The Pirates won the second half 55-41, thanks to 61 percent shooting. SBCC hit 20-of-33 in the first half and Ventura posted the same FG total in the second half.

Ventura outrebounded the home team 44-27, including 17-9 at the offensive end, on the way to its third win over the Vaqueros this season.

"We played really well, we knew we had to do a good job on No. 11 (Brown) and 32 (LaCount)," said SBCC coach Morris Hodges. "We knew 11 was going to get his, when you see how we were playing the pick-and-roll situation. The big thing was we gave up some critical offensive rebounds.

"We shot it pretty well (50 percent) and we knew it would be a defensive game, based on how we handled their four guys who are shooting in the 40-percent range on 3's."

After falling behind by eight points in the second half, the Vaqueros pulled within three (84-81) on a 3-pointer by Williams and a scoop layup by Tillman. Brown answered with a tough lefty layin and a free throw, then Jalon Wilson hit a 12-footer in the lane to boost the lead to 89-84 with 1:05 to play.

Ventura shot 52.1 percent and made 5-12 from 3-point range. The Vaqueros hit 13 triples for the second straight game, making 13-of-33 for 39.4 percent.

The Vaqueros enjoyed an early 12-5 lead before the Pirates went on a 17-6 run and grabbed a 22-18 advantage on a four-point play by Jacob Alonzo. SBCC ended the first half on a 19-9 burst.

"Evan Tillman had a good game," Hodges stated. "He played hard, he was composed and on-balance when he was shooting. Jerry and TJ also turned in outstanding games."

SBCC travels to L.A. Pierce on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game.