
Hancock Men's Basketball Opens Conference Title Defense at Home Wednesday against SBCC
The Hancock men's basketball team begins defense of its 2014-15 Western State Conference title this week at home with two conference games. Hancock will host Santa Barbara City College on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. before Oxnard visits on Saturday, Jan. 9, for a 5 p.m. contest. The Bulldogs finished the preseason last week with an 8-9 overall record.
Hancock won both meetings with each program last season on its way to a share of the conference title with Cuesta and L.A. Pierce.
Last week, Hancock won one of its three games during the annual Holiday Classic. Sophomore guard Matt Willkomm (Arroyo Grande HS) hit a layup as time expired to deliver a thrilling 75-73 win over Rio Hondo. Willkomm, freshmen guards Shane Carney and Malik Rhodes each scored 17 points in the win. Carney scored 20 and Willkomm added 17 in an 86-75 loss to No. 13 Bakersfield. Freshman guard Malik Rhodes scored 19 points in the team's 97-80 loss to No. 14 Fresno City College.
Through 17 games, Rhodes is the team's leading scorer at 15.3 points to go with 3.5 assists, followed by Willkomm at 13.1 and Carney at 10.7 points per game. Willkomm is shooting 44 percent from three-point range. Freshman forward Tim Ford is the Bulldogs' top rebounder at 8.1 boards per game.
Santa Barbara has lost three of its last four games and finished the preseason 5-9. The Vaqueros have three players averaging 12.8 points per game or more. Freshman guard Tejon Williams leads the team at 13.2 points and 6.4 rebounds. Robert Hutchins ranks second at 12.9 points and 2.5 three-pointers per game.
Oxnard finished the preseason 5-5. The Condors open conference play on Wednesday at home against Moorpark. Sophomore forward DeSean Scott leads the team and ranks fourth in the state averaging 22.9 points per game to go with 10.3 rebounds. The Arroyo Grande High School graduate shoots 46 percent from the field, including 32 percent from three-point range. Guard Terrance Nunnery averages 13.6 points per game.