Hancock Men's Basketball Travel to Moorpark Wednesday and Host Santa Barbara Saturday

The Allan Hancock College men's basketball team will look to get back on track with two Western State Conference games this week. Hancock, which is 10-11 overall and 0-1 in league, will travel to Moorpark for a 5 p.m. battle on Wednesday, January 18. Hancock will host Santa Barbara on Saturday, January 21, at 3 p.m. inside Joe White Memorial Gymnasium. 

The Bulldogs lost their conference opener 78-59 last weekend. The Bulldogs fell behind early 23-6 and never recovered. Sophomore guard Marcellus Garrick (Westwood HS) led the Bulldogs with 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Kevawn Lord (West Side HS) came off the bench to add 11 points and four rebounds. Center Dominic Jackson (Northwest Career & Technical Academy) added 10 points and four rebounds. Freshman forward Erik Kinnebrew (Middlebrooks Academy) finished with six points, seven rebounds, and four steals.

Garrick is the team's leading scorer at 13.8 points per game. Deon Whiteside (Bishop Gorman HS) ranks second at 9.8 points, followed by Lord at 9.7 points and 5.4 rebound. Jackson averages 8.5 points, and guard Nolan Willett (JSerra Catholic) averages 4.8 assists per game.

Moorpark lost its conference opener to Oxnard 78-72. The Raiders are 6-10 overall and 0-1 in league. Damian Wilson is the Raiders' top scorer at 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Guard Taylor Kirkham is shooting 50.6 percent from 3-point range, and averaging 2.6 3-point buckets and 9.5 points per game. Luis Herrera is shooting 42 percent form long range and averaging 8.4 points.

Santa Barbara starts the week on a 12-game losing streak. The Vaqueros, who are 2-14 overall and 0-1 in conference, last won on November 19, when they defeated Hancock 99-92 behind 31 points from sophomore guard Robert Hutchins. SBCC fell 70-56 to Cuesta last Saturday despite 19 from Hutchins, and 14 points, nine rebounds from Ben Clay. Hutchins is averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. Clay, a 6-foot-5 center, averages 14 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.

When Hancock lost 99-92 to SBCC during the Home Motors Invitational last November, Jackson led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Garrick added 15 points, while guard Shane Carney, who is now out for the season, finished with 16 points and five assists.