The Bakersfield College Renegades won an incredible double overtime thriller against the Los Angeles Valley Monarchs 75-71 on Jan. 25. 

The Renegades started out slow and flat footed as the Monarchs jumped out to an early 17-12 lead in the first 10 minutes of the first half. The Renegades then kicked it up a notch by going on a 22-4 run of dominance that lasted for nine minutes. 

That run was led by Eloy Medina and Terrin Dickey who scored 20 of the Renegades 36 points in the first half as they led by nine over the Monarchs at halftime. 

The Monarchs made adjustments in the second half and held the Renegades to just 21 points in the second half. The Renegades got into foul trouble early in the second half which let the Monarchs come back to tie the game with five minutes to go. Back and forth the lead swapped between the two teams however, no one could get an edge to claim the victory in regulation so we headed into overtime with the score all tied up at 57. 

Overtime began and the lead continued to swap between the Monarchs and the Renegades. As soon as the Renegades would score, the Monarchs would answer back very quickly. Less than a minute to go when the shot clock was winding down, Eloy Medina knocked down an incredible 3-pointer to put the Renegades up 68-63 with 50 seconds to go in overtime.

The Monarchs would not go away quietly as they made a quick jump shot to put them down 68-65. The Monarchs would have one more opportunity to tie the game and they did not let that chance go to waste as Nikko Rodriguez made an incredible buzzer beater to tie the game at 68 and force double overtime. 

The Renegades jumped out to an early five point lead thanks to Eloy Medina making his eighth 3-pointer of the game that put him at a total of 24 points on the night as the Monarchs never took the lead again for the rest of the game. 

“This game should have been finished in regulation,” Bakersfield College assistant coach Jonathan Glover said after the victory.