The Santa Barbara boys tightened up on defense in the second half and rolled past a game Pacifica squad 78-54 in a Channel League game Friday night.
The Tritons made eight 3-pointers in the first half and took a 34-30 lead with about four minutes remaining until the break. The Dons went on an 11-0 run to end the half up 41-34 and carried the momentum the rest of the game.
“The guys responded to a halftime challenge to be better defensively,” Santa Barbara coach Corey Adam said. “It was good to see the boys be accountable to themselves and each other on the defensive side for the entirety of the second half.”
Sophomore Luke Zuffelato led the Dons with 21 points and seven rebounds. He also made a key contribution on defense by switching to the Tritons’ Alex Tamayo. Tamayo made five 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes of the game, but didn’t get a shot off after that.
Carter Battle added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals for Santa Barbara, and Julian Espinoza contributed 10 points and five rebounds.
Will Harman added eight points, four rebounds and two steals, and “gave us good energy and defense off the bench,” Adam said.
With the win, the Dons improve to 5-1 in league play, a game behind Oxnard at 6-0. Santa Barbara is 11-9 overall.