BAKERSFIELD, CA – Despite a total of 36 fouls just in the second half, with 19 of them coming from the Bakersfield College men's basketball team, the Renegades battled through the El Camino Warriors at the Gil Bishop Sports Center. Freshman Jordan Andrews secured the cushion win with a total of 3-points off two sets of fouls in the final minute, 81-72.
BC came out of the gates getting on the board first and taking a 9-5 lead before the Warriors started inching at their lead in the first six minutes of the game. The game would tie three times while El Camino took their largest lead of the night with 5:30 left in the game before BC took their lead back and end the first half with a 6-point lead, 34-28.
Guard Tyrell Coleman led the Renegades in the first half with 8 points, while sophomore Vince Damelio secured 6 points for the red and white. Defensively as a team, BC grabbed 21 rebounds while the Warriors had 16. In the paint Bakersfield scored 18 with their bench scoring 11 points to leaving BC at the largest lead in the first half.
The second half began slower for both sides as only 7 total points were scored in the first five minutes of the game. Michael Guillory ended the streak by perfectly placing three points to give BC a 10-point lead at 14:39 in the game. El Camino woke up and answered back with a three point basket to stay in the game. The `Gades and Warriors would fight to the end with big red never trailing but El Camino cut their lead three times in the final five minutes of the game. The first with a three-pointer from ECC, the second by a fast break, and the final on a technical foul called on Coach Rich Hughes. Fortunately, the Renegades racked up two points by Guillory and drew two fouls to finish the game with a 9-point lead, 81-72.
Ending the night as the top scorer in the game was Coleman with 19 points, followed by Guillory with 16 points. Leading the Renegades defensively was sophomore Isayas Aris with 13 rebounds. BC scored 40-22 in the paint and 12-6 fast breaks.
With the win, the Renegades improve to 10-2 on the season and remain undefeated at home. The `Gades are done for the 2019 year but will return home January 3rd and 4th for the 2020 Western State Classic Showcase playing two games before beginning conference play.
