The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s basketball team leaned on defensive strategies, contributions from across the roster and late-game composure to defeat Diablo Valley College 63-57 in overtime at Haehl Pavilion.
Santa Rosa entered the extra period tied at 54 and clamped down defense, holding Diablo Valley to just 3 points while scoring 9 to secure the conference win. The Bear Cubs improved to 18-4 overall and 8-2 in conference play.
Diablo Valley began with aggressive full-court pressure and took a 25-22 lead into halftime. Though they struggled initially, the Bear Cubs responded in the second half by outscoring the Vikings 32-29 to force overtime.
Head coach Craig McMillan credited Diablo Valley’s defense and said illness affected the Bear Cubs’ preparation throughout the week.
“Diablo Valley played good pressure defense, and we didn’t handle it very well,” McMillan said. “Gavin Cook-Whisenton was able to get some good penetration to score and create shots for others in the second half. We’ve been a little under the weather with a flu bug and weren’t able to have quality practices this week. Hopefully, we can get healthy and finish strong over the final six games.”
Santa Rosa relied on experience in overtime, limiting turnovers and controlling the glass. Forward Travis Hightower led the Bear Cubs with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Guard Spencer Langowski added 14 points, while guard Gavin Cook-Whisenton scored 11 off the bench.
Langowski said illness and limited practice time slowed Santa Rosa, but praised the team’s defensive effort and composure.
“We were battling sickness all week, so we had half our guys out,” Langowski said. “Some of them just got back yesterday or today, and that made things tough. Our defense was better than our offense early. We were slow in the first half, but we picked it up in the second.”
Langowski said the Bear Cubs’ experience in close games helped in overtime.
“We’ve been in these situations before,” he said. “We make winning plays, and in overtime we stayed calm.”
Forward Tayden Collins said Diablo Valley’s pressure challenged Santa Rosa offensively and emphasized the importance of communication in transition.
“They put a lot of pressure on us defensively and picked us up full court,” Collins said. “We struggled handling that pressure.”
Collins added that close games proved valuable growth opportunities.
“We learn from teams that put a lot of pressure on us,” he said. “In close games, we learn who we can trust on the floor.”
Santa Rosa shot 45.3% from the field and went 9-for-11 from the free-throw line, capitalizing late while Diablo Valley shot 9-for-19.
With the win, the Bear Cubs improved to 18-4 overall and 8-2 in conference play. Santa Rosa returns to action Feb. 3 against Folsom Lake College at 5:30 p.m.
