BCC hoops still rolling

Watch out for the Brunswick Community College buzz saw.

The men’s basketball team continued to chew up the competition last Saturday, posting a 100-92 victory at Clinton (S.C.) Junior College.

It was the ninth consecutive win for the Dolphins, who are cruising toward what could be their best season ever at 11-1 in the Carolinas Junior College Conference and 21-2 overall.

BCC coach Walter Shaw said Saturday’s game went back and forth before the Dolphins pulled away at the end.

“It was a tough one. We were down nine in the first half and then we went on a run and went up 10 at halftime. After halftime we went up 20 and they cut it to one and we won by eight,” Shaw said.

“We gave up too many points in the second half. They started out-rebounding us in that big run. A lot of calls didn’t go our way, which added to the problem.”

Richard Shepherd came off the bench and scored 16 points to lead BCC. The freshman guard made four of the team’s 10 three-pointers.

Montarrio Haddock chipped in 13 points, Montel Smith added 11 and C.J. Hailey, Myles Holley and Leon Spencer had 10 apiece for the Dolphins.

Fred Bouie, a sophomore guard, scored a game-high 30 points for Clinton (6-4 conference, 11-9 overall). He made five three-pointers.

“He’s the one who single-handedly brought them back,” Shaw said.

Shaw said BCC’s depth was the difference, just as it has been in so many other close games this season.

“They (Clinton) spent so much energy in the comeback they didn’t have enough energy to finish. We had fresh legs at the end,” he said. “When you have fresher bodies you can make plays at the end.”

Shaw said BCC hadn’t won a game at Clinton since 2005, when the Dolphins beat the Golden Bears in quadruple overtime in the conference tournament championship game.

“We lost at the buzzer two years in a row so going there and getting a win was big,” Shaw said.

“The last few years we’ve been playing in a new high school in Rock Hill. Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to play them at home, which is a really small gym, kind of like West Brunswick’s practice gym.”

BCC returns to action this weekend with two conference games in the northern part of the state.

The Dolphins take on Rockingham Community College at 3 p.m. Saturday and Guilford Technical Community College at 2 p.m. Sunday. Guilford Tech trails BCC by one game in the CJCC North Division standings.

“This weekend is going to be crucial,” Shaw said. “If we can get through this weekend, we’ll have a two-game lead on everybody with five games to play and four of those are at home.”

Game Summary

Brunswick 47 53—100

Clinton 37 55—92

Brunswick scoring: Shepherd 16, Haddock 13, Smith 11, Hailey 10, Holley 10, Spencer 10, Jones 9, Jackson 7, Basnight 5, Foster 4, Hovermale 3, Waters 2.

Clinton scoring: Bouie 30, Young 22, Alston 17, Page 13, Garfield 5, Simms 3, Edwards 2.

Doug Rutter is the sports editor at the Beacon. Reach him at 754-6890 or at drutter@brunswickbeacon.com