Thousand Oaks boys basketball shuts down Oxnard to stay unbeaten

OXNARD — The Thousand Oaks boys basketball team won its ninth straight game to open the 2025 season as it beat Oxnard 54-34 on Thursday night.

Thousand Oaks (9-0) played relentless defense, holding Oxnard (9-3) to 11 points in the first half.

The No. 10-ranked team in the Daily News area, Thousand Oaks has held opponents to 44 points per game this season, and had 14 steals against Oxnard.

“The defense is kind of our calling card. That Oxnard team plays physically, so we knew this was gonna be a tough game,” Thousand Oaks coach Logan Baltau said. “Our group is so unselfish and together, and the defensive success speaks more to their togetherness than any sort of X’s and O’s thing.”

Thousand Oaks’ leading scorer, Dylan McCord, had 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. McCord struggled to get going in the first half, but hit four 3-point shots in the second half to help seal the victory for the Lancers.

“We struggled offensively tonight. It wasn’t bad overall, but we just need to stay a little more calm and poised,” McCord said.

Sophomore guard Micah Chin had 16 points and three steals for the Lancers. Chin had six points in the first quarter to help give the Lancers a 14-6 lead after one.

“When stuff’s not falling on offense, we know we got to get down on defense so we can create offensive opportunities,” Chin said. “Dylan takes a lot of gravity, so that gives me some open looks and I just gotta knock them down when I get them.”

The Lancers led 24-11 at halftime and then proceeded to go on an 11-0 run to open the second half, holding Oxnard scoreless for more than 5 minutes. Oxnard especially struggled to get going from 3-point range, as Thousand Oaks limited them to 3 of 19 from beyond the 3-point line.

Thousand Oaks starting forward and Navy football commit Kaden Glover had six points and 12 rebounds, and Jaydon Nwene had eight points and four steals for Thousand Oaks. Gabriel Chin, older brother of Micah Chin, had seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.

“We come into every game emphasizing defense and the offense will come,” Glover said. “I feel like my job is to clear everything out so anyone can get a rebound and try to create open looks for my teammates.”

Thousand Oaks will host two teams from the talented Mission League in their next two games, as they take on Chaminade (12-0) on Saturday and Alemany (10-1) on Monday.

“We’re really looking forward to this next game. Not a lot of people think we’re gonna beat them (Chaminade) and we got something to prove,” McCord said.