Fay’s Basket Helps Oxnard Beat Moorpark in WSC Play

As jump shots go, this one will never make Lance Fay’s top 25 for form.

But his ugly, off-balance 10-foot jumper over two defenders in the lane with 57 seconds left played a key role in Oxnard College’s 62-50 victory over visiting Moorpark in a Western State Conference North Division men’s basketball game at Santa Clara High on Saturday night.

Oxnard (15-8, 1-0 in division play) had a 54-48 lead when Fay entered the key on the right side, drove to his left and launched a right-handed shot that rattled through the basket and seemed to take the wind out of Moorpark’s sails.

The Raiders (12-12, 1-1) trailed by 10 points early in the second half, but they refused to fold, trimming their deficit to 51-48 with 2 minutes 39 seconds remaining when Elijah Maxey (11 points) hit a three-point shot from the right side.

After each team failed to score on its ensuing possession, Chris Cole made the first of two free throws to give the Condors a four-point advantage with 2:18 left.

Cole missed the second foul shot, but Art Wallace rebounded the miss and threw down a two-handed jam to give Oxnard a six-point lead.

Moorpark missed two shots on its next possession, setting the stage for Fay’s fadeaway jumper.

“That’s not exactly the play (assistant John Price) designed during the timeout,” Oxnard Coach Remy McCarthy said. “But he made the shot. We told Lance to penetrate and take the shot if he was open, but we wanted him to dish off if he was covered.”

Fay (18 points), not surprisingly, had a slightly different version of the play.

“In that situation I can either shoot or dish off,” Fay said. “But they gave me the shot, so I pulled up and took the jumper.”

Finding itself down by eight points with less than a minute remaining, Moorpark was forced to foul and hope the Condors would miss their free throws.

Oxnard, however, made six of eight in the final 42 seconds.

“We made our free throws down the stretch and I’m really happy about that,” Fay said. “We’ve had our problems in that area this season.”

Stevie Amar had 13 points and Tony Ziuraitis added 10 for Oxnard, which has won four in a row.

Wallace, who has spent much of the season in McCarthy’s doghouse, chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Kayheed Murray scored a game-high 22 points (11 of 17 from the field) for Moorpark, including 14 in the second half on seven-of-nine shooting.