OAKLAND, Calif. Nick Taubes scored the go-ahead basket after San Rafael took a 46-45 lead, and Loryan Boyette-Tindall added two free throws to seal Head-Royce's 49-46 win over San Rafael on Sunday. The Jayhawks improved to 7-3 in summer play after building a 14-point lead in the first half and then holding on when San Rafael erased nearly all of it.
The game was close early. San Rafael led 4-2, and the teams were tied four times in the opening stretch, the last at 8-8. Head-Royce answered with an 8-0 run. Jack Peay scored on an assist from Taubes, Taubes hit a 3-pointer set up by Boyette-Tindall, and Alex Dornbusch made a 3-pointer off a turnover, assisted by Sanjay Ernst, for a 16-8 lead.
The Jayhawks kept pulling away. Leading 18-14, they scored seven straight points on a 3-pointer by junior guard Owen Sunwoo, a basket by Boyette-Tindall and two Peay free throws to go up 25-14. After a San Rafael 3-pointer, Nas Khan hit a 3-pointer on a feed from Sunwoo, and Peay followed with a 3-pointer from Ernst to make it 31-17, Head-Royce's largest lead. The Jayhawks led 33-23 at halftime.
Boyette-Tindall scored all eight Head-Royce points early in the second half, with a second-chance basket, a 3-pointer and a basket followed by a free throw, and the lead stood at 41-32. San Rafael then went on an 8-0 run built on four free throws, a basket off a turnover and a second-chance basket to cut the deficit to 41-40. Taubes scored to make it 43-40, but San Rafael tied it with a 3-pointer. Peay put Head-Royce back ahead at 45-43, and another San Rafael 3-pointer gave the visitors a 46-45 lead. Taubes answered with a basket to regain the lead at 47-46, and Boyette-Tindall made two free throws to close the scoring.
Peay led Head-Royce with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, made all four of his free throws and had three steals and four rebounds. Boyette-Tindall added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, went 3 for 3 at the line and had seven rebounds (four offensive), three assists and two steals. Taubes scored 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, with four rebounds and two assists. Ernst had three assists, a steal and a block, and Waylon Miller pulled down six rebounds off the bench.
Head-Royce shot 38.6 percent from the field (17 of 44) and 9 of 10 at the free throw line. San Rafael shot better at 41.7 percent and made all 13 of its free throws, but the Jayhawks created extra chances. They grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to San Rafael's four, committed only five turnovers to San Rafael's eight and outscored the visitors 5-2 in points off turnovers. The bench added eight points.
With the win, Head-Royce improved to 7-3 and has won its last game.