Santa Rosa guard Amari Grey, left, braces against Sierra defense during the game against Sierra on Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Haehl Pavilion.
The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team delivered a dominant second-half performance Thursday, defeating Sacramento City College 98-68 at Haehl Pavilion.
With the victory, the Bear Cubs improved to 22-4 overall and maintained their No. 1 rank in the Big 8 Conference standings.
Sacramento City kept the game competitive early, trailing just 23-22 midway through the first half. Santa Rosa gradually created separation and carried a 48-39 lead into halftime before taking control after the break. The Bear Cubs outscored the Panthers 50-29 in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Santa Rosa shot 40-for-77 from the field (51.95%), connected on 12-of-3 for 3-point attempts (36.4%) and finished 6-for-7 from the free-throw line (85.7%). The Bear Cubs totaled 46 rebounds and 21 assists while committing just six turnovers.
Guard Amari Gray helped shift momentum in the first half with back-to-back forced turnovers that led to transition layups.
“As a team, we just want to start off good,” Gray said. “It just puts us in a better position down the road. If we start out good, we’ll finish it.”
Gray led the team with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting and added six assists and two steals.
Guard Gavin Early added 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, while Spencer Langowski scored 16 points, knocking down four of eight attempts from beyond the arc. Travis Hightower contributed eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks; Vincent Jackson collected eight rebounds and four assists.
Santa Rosa guard Spencer Langowski, center, pushes past Sierra’s Matthew Schroeder during the game on Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Haehl Pavilion. (Yna Bollock)
The bench accounted for 36 points, including nine from Gavin Cook-Whisenton and eight from Tatum Kurpinsky, who also pulled down seven rebounds. Jaden Washington was perfect from the field and at the free-throw line, finishing with six points in limited minutes.
“You need depth going into the playoffs,” Langowski said. “You don’t know who is going to go down. This was a good game for everyone.”
Head coach Craig McMillan said the team’s composure allowed it to respond after Sacramento City’s early push.
“We played well enough to weather their flurry, and when they started missing some shots, we pulled away,” McMillan said. “We have been getting better ball movement lately and just playing better overall.”
The Bear Cubs host Modesto on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Haehl Pavilion in its second-to-last conference game.