SBCC freshman Mark Keeten poured in a career-high 41 points, 27 of them in the second half, but the Vaqueros still fell way short of Los Angeles Valley College, 100-84, in the 35th annual SBCC Classic championship game.
Keeten made seven of 14 shots from long distance and six of those bombs came after halftime. The Vaqueros (5-5) were outshot 58.8 percent to 20.7 percent in the opening half. They fell behind 28-5 and trailed 53-28 at intermission after making just six of 29 shots. SBCC got to within 12 (89-77) on a three-pointer by Jordan Scott with 3:50 to play but couldn’t get any closer.
Keeten missed the Classic single-game scoring record by one point and finished with 90 in the three-day affair, missing the tournament scoring mark by six points.
Kola Togunde (18 points, four assists) also made the all-tournament team for SBCC. Los Angeles Valley’s 6-7 sophomore Shaun Johnson scored 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots to earn MVP honors. Other all-tournament picks were Germel Coleman and Gino Riney of Los Angeles Valley (10-3) and Dwight Gordon of Victor Valley.
Gordon scored 26 points, including 15 of 15 from the charity stripe, to help Victor Valley beat Oxnard, 83-78, to claim third place. Hancock‘s Samson Gebreberhane tallied 32 points and hit 10-of-19 from three-point range in Hancock’s 67-66 win over Grossmont in the consolation final.
SBCC doesn’t play again until Dec. 28 when it takes on Riverside in the opening round of the Hancock Tournament.
Dave Loveton is Santa Barbara City College‘s sports information specialist.