Basketball Recap: Valentin Vasquez Key Part of a Team Effort in Bears Win

Merced's game on Friday was all tied up 29-29 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They came out on top against the El Capitan Gauchos by a score of 72-63. This was a revenge game for the Bears: when they faced off against the Gauchos back in January, they had to take a 56-46 loss.

Merced's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Valentin Vasquez led the charge by going 7 of 11 on his way to 22 points. Vasquez is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. Diego Aguilar was another key player, going 5 for 9 en route to 15 points.

El Capitan lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Anthony Jones, who went 6 of 8 on his way to 14 points and eight boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Jay Ervin, who made all 6 shots he took to post 13 points and three steals.

Merced has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.2 points per game. As for El Capitan, their defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 5-1 and their overall record down to 15-8.

Merced and El Capitan should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps California Rankings. Merced will face off against Los Banos at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday up 335 places (256 vs. 591). Merced is looking to tack on another W to their five-game streak on the road. Meanwhile, El Capitan (ranked 287th) will meet Buhach Colony (ranked 721st) at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Merced is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.5 points per game this season.