Sweep Success: Hancock Wins Thrillers at Santa Barbara Behind Valerio, Varney

For the second time this week both Allan Hancock College basketball teams swept Western State Conference games in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. The women overcame an 11-point second half deficit to stun host Santa Barbara City College 60-57 on Saturday night. The men followed with a 49-48 victory as Josh Varney had an offensive putback with eight seconds for the game-winning bucket. It marked the first time in at least five years that both the men and women swept back-to-back series.

The women improved to 2-3 in Western State Conference play and 12-8 on the season. It's the first time the women have won two-straight league games since January 2011.  Davina J. Valerio drove to the hoop and scored and was fouled. She made the free throw to complete the three-point play to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game 57-56 with about 1:30 to play. The women trailed 35-23 at halftime and by double-digits for most of the second half. 

Justine Roland led the Bulldogs with 18 points to go with nine rebounds. Ali Rodriguez tallied 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Valerio finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. The sophomore made seven of her 11 free throw attempts. Veronica Sua poured in eight points and led the team with 11 rebounds. Emma Weinreich added six points and four rebounds.

The Hancock women were 15 for 41 from floor for a 36.6 percent mark. The Bulldogs made 21 of their 28 free throws for a 75 percent clip. They controlled the boards with 41 rebounds to the Vaqueros' 29. SBCC shot just 32 percent from the floor by making 22 of its 69 shots.

Varney, a sophomore, enjoyed his best game of the season for first-year head coach Tyson Aye. He was 6 for 9 from the field and made all six of his free throw attempts to finish with a team-high 18 points. He also led the team with seven rebounds. Freshman guard Andre Miller added eight points, six rebounds and two assists.  Kadeem Minor added seven points. Sophomore Rijo Jackson and DJ Billingsley each tallied three steals in the victory. 

The Hancock men made 16 of their 41 shots for a 39 percent mark. They also made just two of their nine shots from 3-point range. They shot 71.4 percent from the free throw line by making 15 of their 21 attempts. The Vaqueros shot 42.2 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from 3-point range on a 7 for 17 effort. However, SBCC only got to the free throw line four times in the game and made three of them.

Prince Arceneaux led SBCC with 16 points, while Kenneth Edwards added 15.

The Hancock men are 3-2 in WSC action and 12-10 for the season.

The Bulldogs host Canyons on Wednesday, Jan.29. The women tip off a 5 p.m., followed by the men at 7 p.m.