COLLEGE ROUNDUP, Nov. 24-30: Quiet week still brings plenty of intrigue
Dec. 1—As local college basketball teams get deeper into their seasons, we're starting to see more and more of their true identities. Both Cal State Bakersfield teams, for example, demonstrated a great capacity for defense this past week — but will their offenses be able to go shot for shot with Big West Conference opposition? We'll find out at the new year.
But for now, here's more on what all college teams did over the holiday weekend.
Bakersfield College
Men's basketball: BC fell to Kern Community College District competition Saturday as it suffered its worst loss of the year, an 81-62 rout at Cerro Coso. The Coyotes held Tyrell Coleman to six points and forced 14 Renegade turnovers. BC's Rahmel Davis did lead all scorers on the night with 15 points and added six rebounds. The Renegades, now 3-3, have dropped three of four and will hope to get back on track Thursday at home against Porterville, which beat them by two points on Nov. 19.
Volleyball: The top-seeded Renegades beat Orange Coast soundly on Saturday night, outlasting the Pirates in a 25-23 first set before settling in and pulling off a sweep. That earned them a trip to the California Community College Athletic Association state championship playoffs in Fresno from Dec. 3-5, beginning with a game against American River, the fourth-highest seed from the northern regional, at 10 a.m. Friday. The road to a championship won't be easy, as the final eight teams include defending champions Feather River and hosts Fresno City. In addition, the southern representative is San Diego Mesa, the only team to beat BC (22-1) this season. Even if the Renegades don't take home the championship, a win over American River would give them their first top-four finish in 28 years.
Miscellaneous and looking ahead: The undefeated BC women's basketball team, which has won its last five games by double digits, will be back in action with three games in three days at a tournament in Santa Ana. BC's first foe is San Diego City on Thursday... With a 7-7 record, 4-1 in conference, wrestling will compete at Cuesta College in the South Regional Tournament.
Cal State Bakersfield
Men's basketball: The Roadrunners made a statement Friday with a 46-39 win over Mountain West foe Boise State in which they held the Broncos to 22 percent shooting, the lowest shooting percentage for any CSUB opponent in the last decade, earning their first road victory of the season. In the low-scoring slugfest, Kaleb Higgins led CSUB with 11 points, and Justin Edler-Davis had seven points and six rebounds. The Roadrunners, now 3-2, will host an exhibition against Benedictine Mesa on Friday and then have a weeklong layoff.
Women's basketball: An early-season slump continued for the Roadrunners as they dropped the third contest of a three-game road trip at Santa Clara 67-53, despite building a lead in the low-scoring first half. CSUB came home and met the same fate in an extremely similar game against Pepperdine in which, despite 21 total points from Jayden Eggleston, it was outscored 20-5 in the third quarter and lost 52-42. Now 1-4, the Roadrunners will look to turn things around with a Sunday afternoon home game against UNLV.
Women's volleyball: CSUB split a pair of road games over Thanksgiving weekend, winning 3-2 at UC San Diego and then getting swept at UC Irvine to finalize its record at 18-10 (11-9 in conference), good for fourth place in the Big West Conference. That got the Roadrunners a bid in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, which features teams who do not make the NCAA tournament. They will travel to Utah to take on host Weber State, a top team from the Big Sky Conference, Friday evening, and will play again Saturday, if they win.
Miscellaneous and looking ahead: CSUB men's soccer defender Eric Whelan signed with a semi-pro team in Australia ... Six swimmers, including Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Swimmer of the Week Autumn D'Arcy, are in action at the Toyota U.S. Open in Greensboro through Saturday... The wrestling team will face a massive test at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, which features 27 of the nation's best college teams, including two that have already beaten the Roadrunners this season... Former outstanding Roadrunner wrestler Stephen Neal, who also won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots as an offensive lineman, will be part of next year's CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame class, the school announced.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
