Bakersfield College men’s basketball team beat Glendale College to get their first Western State Conference road victory.
BC beat Glendale 67-64 on Feb. 1 and improved to a 3-5 conference record. The Renegades shot the ball over 50 percent for the whole game and held Glendale to 41 percent shooting. BC freshman guard Duncan Schramm put up 28 points, including two free throws that pushed the lead to 67-64.
BC got to a quick start in the first half by shooting over 64 percent and holding Glendale to 44 percent.
“We came out with a lot of energy and played together,” said Schramm.
BC’s hot shooting helped them build a 36-27 lead going into the half. The Renegades shooting cooled down in the second half, but they were able to hold Glendale under 40 percent shooting.
BC was hurt again by turnovers and that helped Glendale to come back in the second half.
With BC hanging onto a 65-64 lead with seconds remaining and Schramm was sent to the free throw line. He made both and helped seal the win for BC.
“I just tried staying loose and I never psyched myself out,” said Schramm.
“After I made my first, my teammates helped me to stay loose, so I can make the second.”
BC coach Rich Hughes commented on the game.
“Winning on the road was big for us and definitely after our subpar performance against Santa Monica. Any win is big, but I thought this was big for their confidence because that’s our first road conference win,” said Hughes.
“I was impressed with how we were able to get the lead and hold onto it because we’ve had first half leads before, but we haven’t been able to hold onto it before. I think that was big.
He added that he wants the team to put together a good win-streak to end the year.
“We’ve been up-and-down the whole year, so I would like us to go on a three game win-streak because we haven’t had more than two wins in a row,” said Hughes.
Schramm commented on his and the team’s performance.
“This was a big step forward because we were able to finish the game, and it’s big for our progression. We didn’t play strong early on in conference, so we want to finish strong. To do that we got to come out with good energy throughout the game, but it feels good to get a win like that.
“”I thought I prepared the right way before the game. My teammates got me easy looks and it helped that I got some early shots to go in. Also, getting to the free throw line helped me a lot because they’re easy points. This was big for me because I haven’t been able to do that good recently,” he said.
BC’s next scheduled game is against Canyons on Feb. 4.