Moorpark men’s basketball dominated Santa Barbara City College 104-57 on Jan. 24.
The Moorpark Raiders men’s basketball team took on Western State Conference Northern Division competitor, Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros, in the Raider Sports Pavilion at 7 p.m. The Raiders jumped out to an early lead, but this game started off with a twist. Before this game started, the Raiders were called for a technical foul, due to pregame dunking, which resulted in a Vaqueros’ free throw before the game even began. This gave Santa Barbara a 1-0 lead before the opening tip.
The Raiders did not stay behind for long however. Moorpark Guard, #12 Cole Micek, was able to complete a four point play to put Moorpark ahead 6-5, which then was extended to a 18-9 Raider lead. The Raiders never looked back from that point on and were even able to go into the halftime break with a thirty point 56-26 lead.
Going into halftime, Head Coach of Moorpark men’s basketball, Gerred Link, enjoyed his team’s play in the first half, but expected even more the next half.
“It’s an opportunity for us to grow and get better,” Coach Link said. “The second half score needs to be something similar to the first half score.”
The Moorpark men’s basketball team came out to start the second half, the same way they played in the first half. Raider domination ensued out on the court, and they were able to control the same 30 point lead to a score of 64-34 with 15:20 left in the game.
With the thirty point lead, the Raiders turned even another switch on while going on a sixteen to two run, which then resulted in an 80-36 lead for Moorpark. The Raiders would not pull their foot off of the gas pedal however, and they just continued to dominate this game to the point of reaching the 100 point mark and obtaining a fifty-five point lead with a score of 104-49 with just under three minutes left in the game.
Moorpark would then continue to dominate to win this game 104-57. Raider’s Guard, #3 Ryan McCarthy who had a tremendous game, felt that his team played great and used the last few minutes to their advantage.
“We’re just trying to get some good shots, move the ball around,” McCarthy said. “You want to make a statement, and I think that we did that tonight.”
The Raider’s star of the night was #25 Jacob Grebeta, the Raider’s Freshman Guard, recorded 8 points, 2 assists and 3 rebounds. Grebeta does not play too often, which is what made his great play such a thrill. Raider’s Forward, #11 Elijah Holts, was ecstatic when watching Jacob Grebeta on the court.
“Honestly, It’s the best feeling,” Holts said. “One of the biggest things for a starter is being humble enough to cheer on your guys when they come in, I thought it was huge.”
Darya Abbassi contributed to this story.
