SoCalHoops College News

Bakersfield College Renegade Tournament --(Dec. 3, 1998)

Many are saying that Bakersfield College might be the best team in Juco ball in California.  Well, maybe the second best, because the best is probably reserved for the Long Beach City College team featuring Schea Cotton.  But it certainly isn't a stretch to say that  the Bakersfield College men's basketball team has more than survived its first seven games.  Ok, they survived.

BC had to overcome several injuries, including setbacks to all three returning starters, that left it without experience for many practices and some games.  The BC Renegades were even forced to endure an earthquake in last weekend's Shasta Tournament.  They were unperturbed and  won the title. "We were just getting ready to start the second half and the building started to shake," Hughes said. "It only lasted about one or two seconds. We were all a little shocked."  BC forward/post Shawn Daniels scored a career-high 31 points in that game and added 14 rebounds. Daniels has led the team in rebounding in all six games he's played in. Daniels is averaging 16.7 points and 11.3 rebounds. He recorded his 29th career double-double against Shasta.

BC is 6-1 and takes a four-game win streak into tonight's game against San Diego Mesa College (1-4) in the first round of the Renegade Shootout at the Gil Bishop Sports Center in Bakersfield.  The status of sophomore Rodney Crawford (a returning starter) and freshman Tim Strickland is uncertain; Crawford has been bothered by a knee injury and Strickland has a foot problem. Crawford was named the Shasta Tournament's Most Valuable Player, and scored 25 points  in a 72-71 victory over host Shasta last weekend. He missed the first two games of the season but was averaging 35 minutes a game the last four games. Crawford is currently averaging 12 points and 5.4 rebounds a game while Strickland averages 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds.

The BC Renegade Tournament will feature many quality teams in games continuing   through this Saturday. Cuesta (6-3), Glendale (4-2), Shasta (4-4), Cerro Coso (3-4), San Bernardino Valley (2-3) and Los Medanos (0-5) will be playing. In fact these are some of the better teams in California. Cuesta has a lot of players and Glendale is returning four starters from a team that made the second round of the playoffs last year, and San Bernardino Valley is also loaded.

If BC wins its first and second games of the tournament, it will play in Saturday's championship game at 5 p.m. That would set the stage for a big sports day at BC. The BC football team will play Grossmont in the Potato Bowl at 1 p.m. on Saturday

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