BC men beaten at buzzer by Citrus
| Wednesday, Jan 06 2010 11:22 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jan 06 2010 11:26 PM
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Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Skyler Vaden drives the lane against Citrus College's Keith Thompson, left, and Cameron Nettles during the first half of their game at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Bobby Fisher battles Citrus College's Cameron Khoury for a rebound during their game at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Bobby Fisher pulls down a loose ball during the Renegades game against Citrus College's at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Ricky Wofford drives up the court against Citrus College's Derrick Rodgers during the first half of their game on campus in Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Skyler Vaden drives the lane against Citrus College's Keith Thompson, left, and Cameron Nettles during the first half of their game at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Bart Dandridge shoots the ball over Citrus College's DeAndre Haskins during the first half of their game at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Bobby Fisher battles Citrus College's Cameron Khoury for a rebound during their game at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Bobby Fisher takes the ball to the basket against Citrus College's Cameron Khoury during their game at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Bakersfield College's Bobby Fisher pulls down a loose ball during the Renegades game against Citrus College's at Bakersfield on Wednesday night.
It was another wild Citrus College-at-Bakersfield College basketball game Wednesday night in the Gil Bishop Sports Center.
The third-ranked Owls had two 17-point leads, once in each half, before the eighth-ranked Renegades roared back. But a rebound layup at the buzzer by Citrus' Randy Hunter gave the Owls a 66-65 win.
"The last five times we've met they've been ESPN Classics," Citrus coach Rick Croy said.
"Same story, different year," said BC coach Rich Hughes, whose squad had its 12-game winning streak snapped.
"Two years ago they hit a 3 to send it into overtime, and we eventually lost. Last year they had a steal under our basket right at the end and they won by one. This year it was a last-second tip-in.
"I don't believe in luck, but the ball definitely didn't go our way."
The Western State Conference opener had an even wilder finish than the fans in attendance thought.
The teams alternated one-point leads seven times between the 5:29 and 2:07 marks. Two free throws by Skyler Vaden with 1:22 left and an 8-foot jump shot by Bobby Fisher with 57 seconds left gave BC its biggest lead of the night, 64-59.
But Citrus guard DeAndre Haskins hit a 3-pointer with 36.7 seconds left, and BC's Chase Adams hit one of two free throws with 16.2 seconds left to give BC a 65-62 lead.
Haskins, who's headed to Cal State Fullerton, hit a long outside shot with nine seconds left.
Official Terry Minnoy signaled a 2-point basket, but three points were credited to Citrus (15-2) on the scoreboard, so everyone in the gym thought it was a 65-65 game when the Renegades actually led by one. After the game, the three officials unanimously said it was a 2-pointer.
Adams tried to create a scoring chance by driving through a double-teaming defense as he crossed halfcourt. The ball was knocked off his leg to Citrus point guard Donnel Pfifer.
Pfifer immediately raced up court and forced a shot as he passed the free throw line that struck the backboard. Hunter, a 6-foot-6 forward, caught the rebound with two hands and softly dropped the ball into the basket as the horn sounded.
Hughes said he doesn't usually call time outs in the waning seconds, instead preferring to let his team make a play.
"In hindsight, I should've called a time out," he said before learning BC (14-3) actually led by one point at the time.
After hearing that, Hughes said: "I would have definitely called a time out. Having a lead at that point changes the whole complexion of the game.
"They would have had to foul and I would've gotten a couple of my better free throw shooters in there."
Citrus dominated the first half, with BC starting out hitting only 2-of-13 shots. The Owls led 37-22 at halftime.
BC came out much more crisp in the second half, but a 10-0 run by the Owls made it 49-32 with 12:37 left.
The Renegades then scored the next 14 points to make it a game. Ricky Wofford's 3-pointer gave BC its first lead of the game, 54-53, with 5:29 left and it went back and forth after that.
"Both teams play loose and let their players make plays," Croy said. "When you do that, you're going to see big runs."
Said Hughes: "We dug ourselves a hole. To our credit, we fought back and got in it. We just didn't match their intensity in the first half."
E.J. Kirby had 17 points to lead BC. Skyler Vaden added 12 points and Adams had 10.
Haskins had 18 for the Owls.
Women
Citrus 67, BC 48
Citrus had 19 points from Brianca Nunez and 18 from Brianna Barfield to pace its win over BC (5-9 overall), which had 10 points each from Ashlee Taira and Alexi Smith.
