Free Throw Edge Goes Renegades' Way as Vaqueros Fall 88-78

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The SBCC men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the young season on Tuesday night at the Sports Pavilion 88-78 to Bakersfield, despite outshooting and outrebounding the Renegades.

Sophomore forward Brycyn Gossett put together a standout performance, putting up Vaquero team-highs with 18 points and eight rebounds on an efficient 6-of-7 (85.7%) shooting night. Freshman forward Adam Weingard (10 points) was the only other Vaquero to reach double-figures.

SBCC (1-1) had a higher field goal percentage (41% to 40.4%) and was much more efficient from three-point range (50% to 27.8%). Santa Barbara even won the rebound battle 42-to-35.

The difference in the game came at the free throw line, where Bakersfield (1-0) had nearly double the attempts the Vaqueros had. Despite SBCC going a very efficient 22-for-26 (84.6%) from the line, the Renegades made 15 more free throws to go 37-of-48 (77.1%).

Bakersfield's Deandre Pemberton led the charge from the charity stripe, where he went 14-of-16 for two-thirds of his game-leading 21 points.

The Renegades got out to a good start, taking a 19-12 lead about 11 minutes in, but the Vaqueros managed to keep things from getting away from them. A sweet 12-foot fadeaway off glass from Weingard started a 7-2 SBCC run to bring the home side within two.

Gossett later tied things at 26-26 with a jumper at the 2:47 mark of the opening half. Bakersfield answered with a 13-2 run to take control of the game early in the second half.

The Vaqueros cut the deficit to just five with 6:56 to go, after a pair of Wilfrid Nado free throws made it 66-61. A 9-1 Renegade spurt then gave them their largest lead of the day, 75-62.

SBCC answered with a 7-2 run of its own, as a Jaelen Bates layup with 3:01 left brought the lead back into single digits while forcing a timeout. However, the comeback would fall short as Bakersfield knocked down free throws the rest of the way.

Forward Tommy Condon knocked down 2-of-3 from range. He was the team's third-leading scorer along with Billy Whitting and Elijah Simpson who had eight points each. Jon Pearson added seven points off the bench.

SBCC showed a marked improvement from the outside compared to its season opener, going 6-of-12 on threes. The Vaqueros will hit the road to play in the LA Valley Tournament, which begins on Wednesday against host LA Valley at 7:00 p.m.