Hancock Men's Basketball Looks to Rebound Saturday at SBCC

The Hancock men's basketball will look to get back on track when it opens the second half of conference play at Santa Barbara City College on Saturday, January 30 at 7 p.m. Hancock sits in fifth place in the Western State Conference standings at 2-4 in league and 10-13 overall.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 73-56 loss to LA Pierce and 69-60 loss to No. 15 Cuesta. Matt Willkomm (Arroyo Grande HS) led the Bulldogs with 20 points against the Brahmas, while Malik Rhodes added 15 points and five rebounds. Shane Carney led Hancock with 16 points against the Cougars. Rhodes added 14 and Willkomm poured in 11 more for the Bulldogs.

Rhodes is the team's leading scorer at 17.1 points per game. The guard is shooting 39 percent from three-point range and 78 percent from the free-throw line. He has scored in double digits in 22 of Hancock's 23 games.  Willkomm ranks second on the team at 14.1 points per game and a team-high 43 percent three-point shooting percentage. The sophomore guard has scored 10 or more points in 19 of the 22 games he has played. Carney ranks third with 11.8 points per game. Freshman forward Tim Ford is the team's top rebounded at 8.4 rebounds per game.

 The Vaqueros are 1-5 in league and 6-14 overall. Santa Barbara is coming off a 10-point loss to LA Pierce despite 24 points from Robert Hutchins and 19 from Evan Tillman. Freshman forward Evan Tillman is the team's leading scorer at 14.3 points per game to go with 6.6 rebounds. He scored 33 points in SBCC's loss to Ventura last weekend. Guard Tejon Williams averages 13.8 points and 6.9 boards. Hutchins averages 13.2 points and shoots 34.3 percent from three-point range.

Hancock overcame a 10-point deficit with 8:05 to play in regulation to stun the Vaqueros 79-77 in overtime in its conference opener. Marcellus Garrick hit the go-ahead three pointer with seven seconds left in the game. Rhodes led the Bulldogs with 28 points, while Willkomm added 18 points. Ford led the Bulldogs with 13 rebounds to go with seven points. Williams carried the Vaqueros with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.