The #17 Men's Basketball team were on the road this past week taking on Santa Barbara for a mid-week game and came back for a Saturday night tip against Ventura. The Raiders were able to avoid the trap game against an inspired Santa Barbara Vaquero squad and take the 73-60 victory. While holding a lead for most of the game, the Raiders ended up having to rally and eventually taking the lead in the 2.3 seconds on Avi Halpert's 2 free-throws for a 72-71 win. 

Traveling to Santa Barbara for a mid-week contest, the road Raider's modus operandi was back. With the combination of a slow start and a motivated Vaquero squad meant it was going to be a close game. The first half featured 6 lead changes and 3 ties all the while both teams traded baskets. Santa Barbara led 29-23 at one point and it looked like the Raiders fell into the trap but the Raiders responded with a 10-4 run to tie the game at the half, 33-33.

The second half started with the Raiders going on a 9-3 run to give themselves some breathing room. Here comes Santa Barbara as they put together their own 9-3 run to tie the game with 12:20 left in the game. For the next 3 minutes the teams traded baskets with Santa Barbara taking the lead, 53-52, with 9:30 left. At that point the Raiders flexed their muscles going on a 21-7 run to end the game, 73-60. 

4 Raiders scored in double figures led Jack Benyshek's team and game high 21 points. Jamall Unuakalu had another double-double, 18 points and 15 rebounds. Avi Halpert and Kenji Cooper each scored 14 points while Halpert added 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

With play-off implications and conference standings at stake, both teams battled back and forth for the first 13 minutes that saw 2 lead changes. At the 6:39 mark, the Raiders took the lead on Halpert's 3. The hosts stayed close but could not re-take the lead and the Raiders took a 31-28 lead into halftime.

The second half started with the Raiders going on a 29-22 run to open a 10 point lead with 6:19 left and it looked like the game belonged to them. However, the west county hosts had other ideas as they chipped into the lead eventully taking the lead, 69-68 with :49 sec left. The Raiders were able to force a VC foul putting Halpert on line and he calmly sinking 2 free-throws, 70-69 Raiders with 27 ticks left. Ventura ran what they thought was their game ending play, scoring with :05.9 seconds left, 71-70. Time-out Raiders. Out of the time-out, Halpert and Benyshek lined up at halfcourt, both ran towards Jordan Torres, who was taking the ball out. Torres saw Halpert breaking away form his defender and made a perfect pass with Halpert catching it in stride and was fouled taking it to the basket. Halpert calmly sank the both free-throws, 72-71 with :2.4 secs left. VC's deperation shot was short. 72-71 final. 

Avi Halpert led the Raiders with a game high 25 points and 6 assists. Jack Benyshek added 18 points. Jordan Torres scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. 

The Raiders will next host Hancock, Wednesday, 2/14, 5p. in what is now a showdown for the WSC North Championship. A win and the Raiders would tie the Bulldogs atop the conference standings with two games left to play. Also this week, the Raiders will host Oxnard on Sophomore Night, Saturday, 2/17 at 1p