Russell’s late 3-pointers lift Desert over Vaqueros, 83-80

Shaquille Russell hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds on Thursday night to lift College of the Desert over SBCC 83-80 in the opening round of the 44th annual SBCC Classic at the Sports Pavilion.

Russell scored 20 points and was 4-4 on triples in the second half. Philippe Salawa added 16 points and Dajuan Fulgham had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Roadrunners (1-6), who used a 53-35 rebounding advantage to post their first win.

Ben Clay, a 6-5 freshman from Santa Barbara High, scored a season-high 25 points with eight rebounds and two blocked shots for the Vaqueros (2-7). Sophomore guard Robert Hutchins tallied 17 of his 24 points in the second half and also handed out seven assists.

Clay hit 8-18 from the field and 3-3 from long range for SBCC, which shot 38.6 percent and hit 8-of-19 from the 3-point line. Calvin "Josh" Chapital registered season highs in points (17) and rebounds (7).

There were 10 lead changes and eight ties in the game, including four lead changes in the final five minutes.

"The difference in the game was the second half when we didn't defend their dribble penetration well," said SBCC coach Morris Hodges. "They killed us on the offensive boards."

Desert outrebounded the home team 24-11 in the second half and had a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass.

Hutchins hit a 3-pointer from the left side for a 78-75 lead, then Russell answered with a triple from the right side at the 40-second mark. Hutchins nailed a 14-foot bank on an in-bound pass by Drayton Howell for an 80-78 lead with 26.5 seconds. Russell responded with another triple from the left corner with 22 seconds on the clock.

Chapital drove the lane but his 4-foot floater went in-and-out with 0:06 to play. Kenny Lewis hit two free throws to boost the lead to 83-80 with 3.7 ticks remaining.

Hutchins' potential game-tying 3-pointer from the right corner was blocked by the 6-5 Fulgham as the buzzer sounded.

"On two trips down the court, we weren't matched up when they hit those 3 balls at the end," Hodges noted. "Ben had a nice game and a couple good looks down low at the end but they just didn't go in.

"We had our opportunities, it was just disappointing that we didn't make the stops when we needed them."

The Vaqueros fell behind 22-11 in the first 10 minutes, then went on a 19-6 run to end the half with a 30-28 lead. Clay and Mehki Said hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 30-26 advantage with 1:32 to go in the opening half.

"We got off to a poor start and we were real scattered on the offensive end," said Hodges. "After we fell behind by 11, we started to slow down and stopped rushing our shots."

Desert outshot the Vaqueros 35 to 29.7 percent in the first half but misfired on all 14 3-point attempts. The Vaqueros were 4-10 on 3's in the first half.

Santa Barbara will take on Columbia (3-5) in a consolation semifinal on Friday at 5 p.m.

In other first-round games, Bakersfield beat L.A. Valley 76-66; San Diego Miramar got past Oxnard 72-66 and Grossmont outlasted Columbia 65-61.

L.A. Valley and Oxnard will clash in the first consolation semifinal on Friday at 3 p.m. The championship semifinals will feature Grossmont (6-5) vs. Desert (1-6) at 7 p.m. and Bakersfield (7-5) vs. Miramar (7-3) at 9 p.m.