Bulldogs trounce Shoreline after slow start

BCC Men’s basketball team climb to first place in their division

By James Storbeck.
The BCC Bulldogs were able to overpower the Shoreline Community College Dolphins 74-48 on Wednesday night in a game with two very different and distinct halves.
“Tonight will be a focus game for us,” said head coach Jeremy Eggers before the event. “I mean, obviously, with them being 0-10 and us being 9-2, you know you can’t overlook them. We’ve gotta come to play. We barely [beat] them at their place, and they got one of their best players back who didn’t play against us, so it’s a dangerous game for us.”
The first half was mundane offensively, as both teams managed only eight points apiece in the first 10 minutes. The fact that both teams were about to create steals and cause rebounds contributed to this, while the fact that neither team seemed able to capitalize on any of the few offensive rebounds they managed did nothing to deter it.
The Bulldogs themselves managed to create nine steals and cause eighteen turnovers in the first half alone. Rebounds, however, were a completely different story. The Bulldogs were dominated on the boards during the first half, allowing the Dolphins 23 while only managing 12 themselves.
Towards the end of the first half, whether it was frustration at their level of play, or just the energy of the game, forwards Rukari Austin and Blake Pankow had a pair of emphatic blocks.
Right before the end of the half, Shoreline guard Jonathan Lackings was able to hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut BCC’s halftime lead to nine.
At halftime, Coach Eggers thought the problem was clear. “Not pretty. We didn’t come out with a lot of energy, and that [has] to change if we want a chance. If we want to win games against teams like this, we can’t let them hang out that long. We have to come out and generate our own energy,” he said.
This advice was something that Eggers obviously instilled in his team; the Bulldogs came out in the second half with much more energy, and played at a faster tempo than they had in the first. For a short time, it appeared they had a bit too much energy. The Bulldogs couldn’t seem to find the open pass, and resorted to poor choices, relinquishing the ball to the Dolphins a few times in the opening minutes.
With around 16 minutes left, BCC was able to go on a 19 — 5 run, and from that point on, it was all Bulldogs. Guard Curron Singleton was able to contribute to the surge by scoring five points in as many seconds, hitting a three and then stealing a pass and hitting both free throws from a flagrant foul that was called immediately after.
Shoreline didn’t help their cause, with a technical foul being called on two people sitting on their bench who didn’t appear to be members of the team, with 12:45 remaining in the game.
By the 10-minute mark in the second half, both teams had already surpassed the amount of points they scored in the first half.
As the game drew to a close, with around 45 seconds left, Coach Eggers sent in freshman center Chris McNamara, who hasn’t seen much action this year. He was able to hit a nice hook shot to a chorus of applause to place the proverbial icing on the cake.
The Bulldogs were able to hold off the Dolphins to end the game without it ever being in any doubt. With Olympic being beaten by one point on Wednesday night, the win by BCC puts them in first place in the NWACC North Division with a 10-2 divisional record, and a 21-4 overall record.