Hancock Men Drop Heartbreaker 65-64 to Moorpark

Jeremiah Gray hit two free throws with 1.1 second left to hand the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team a heartbreaking 65-64 loss on Saturday evening. The Bulldogs fell to 4-5 in Western State Conference play and 12-14 overall. Moorpark improved to 7-2 in conference and 18-7 overall.

Matt Willkomm led the Bulldogs with 18 points on four for 13 shooting. The sophomore guard hit three of his seven three-point shots. Willkomm added three assists and two steals.

Malik Rhodes hit six of 17 shots from the floor and finished with 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. Tim Ford added nine points and nine rebounds, while Shane Carney finished with nine points, five boards and four assists. Marcellus Garrick added five points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward Emilio Gonzalez came off the bench to add six points and five rebounds.

Overall, Hancock made 23 of 60 shots form the field (38 percent) and sank eight of 25 (32 percent) from three-point range. Hancock sank 10 of its 13 free throws (77 percent). The Bulldogs held the rebounding-edge 35 to 32.

Reggie Dixon led Moorpark with 23 points and nine rebounds. Gray finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Larry Bush added 11 points for the Raiders.

The game involved a series of runs. Moorpark took an 18-15 lead with 6:31 to play in the first half when Hancock responded with a 20-1 lead fueled by seven points from Willkomm, four from Garrick and a three from Carney.

The Bulldogs carried a 35-22 lead into halftime. Moorpark climbed to within two at 42-40 with 12:10 to go in the game. Hancock went on an 11-0 run on two threes from Willkomm, one triple from Rhodes and a bucket by Gonzalez. Hancock still led by 10 points at 64-54 with 3:23 to play after Willkomm buried two free throws. However, Moorpark closed out the game on an 11-0 run to steal the victory. Dixon scored five points and Gray added four, including the two key free throws, during the Moorpark run to end the game.

The Bulldogs will return to action when Ventura comes to Hancock on Wednesday, Feb. 10. The Hancock men's final home game of the season will begin at 7 p.m.