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SoCalHoops College News

Former Rockfish Make Splash
For Cal In Alaska--(Nov. 19, 1999)

The Cal Bears, aka, the "1998 Rockfish" traveled up to Alaska for the opener in the "Top of the World Classic" where they faced Texas Chirstian in the first round of the tournament. Cal won, but that's not the big news. Freshman Joe Shipp (6'-5" Fr. SG/SF) whom many said was not even going to be in the Bears' rotation this season, scored 11 points by the end of the first half to pull California out of a hole, and the Golden Bears ended up dominating inside with the great play of former Rockfish Nick Vander Laan, rallying to beat Texas Christian, 91-83. Shipp and Vander Laan both finished with 20 points for California, which is now 1-0. The Bears took advantage of their size inside to maintain the lead in the second half, feeding the ball to Vander Laan whenever and wherever they could. When TCU would try to collapse in the paint, guards Donte Smith and former Rockfish and Dos Pueblos standout point guard Shantay Legans (5'-11" Fr. PG) managed to either kick it to the perimeter to each other, or pulled up for the outside shots. Legans was 4-7 from the field for 13 points, and he also racked up 7 assists, while Smith was 4-10 and also scored 13. Former Bishop Montgomery star center Gabriel Hughes played well too, scoring 4 points. Another former Rockfish and SoCal player, Brian Wethers, didn't score, going 0-3 from the field.

TCU, which last year had some of the best shooting guards in the NCAA, jumped out to an early lead as forward Marquise Gainous scored 10 points in the first nine minutes. Then an 8-point run with about four minutes to play in the period put TCU in front, 36-29. Gainous scored 17 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. Shipp led the Golden Bears back to take the lead, 43-41, at halftime. He sank back-to-back 3-pointers and converted a three-point play to tie the game 38-38, then followed with a slam-dunk to give Cal the lead.

We were at the UCLA game last night, so we didn't get to see this one, but from what we've read, it looks like Cal will not be the bottom dwellers that everyone is predicting, and it's nice to see some of the young guys doing well. Likewise, we don't want to make comparisons between the UCLA game we saw last night and this game (which again, we didn't see), nor with the Arizona v. Kansas State game on Tuesday, in which Arizona's new freshman backcourt of Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas literally destroyed KSU in the first half, with Gilbert going off for 10 first half points, and finishing with 7 steals and 12 points, but . . . . it sure looks like UCLA has a lot of work to do before opening its own Pac-10 season. . . . But more on that in a bit.

Here's a recap of the scoring in the Cal game:

California 91, Texas Christian 83

TEXAS CHRISTIAN (0-1)

McTyer 2-5 0-0 6, Long 2-7 4-4 9, Allaway 1-3 0-0 3, Davenport 6-12 0-0 12, Laster 2-5 0-0 4, Carroll 4-10 5-6 16, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0, Gainous 6-16 6-9 18, Merriex 4-8 3-4 15. Totals 27-66
18-23 83

CALIFORNIA (1-0)

Smith 4-10 3-4 13, Legans 4-7 3-4 13, Hughes 2-5 0-2 4, Gates 1-3 2-2 5, Lampley 5-8 6-9 16, Wethers 0-3 0-0 0, VandeerLaan 9-14 2-2 20, Shipp 8-12 1-1 20, Gordon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-62 17-24 91.

Halftime-Texas Christian 41, California 43. 3-Point goals-Texas Christian 11-27 (McTyer 2-3, Long 1-2, Allaway 1-2, Davenport 0-1, Laster 0-1, Carroll 3-9, Gainous 0-1, Merriex 4-8). California 8-16 (Smith 2-5, Legans 2-2, Gates 1-3, Wethers 0-2, Shipp 3-4.)
Fouled out-none.
Rebounds-Texas Christian 40 (Gainous 8), California 34 (Lampley 12).
Assists-Texas Christian 17 (McTyer 4, Long 4), California 19(Legans 7).
Total fouls-Texas Christian 23 California 18.