Yuba College men’s basketball extended its incredible run to 14 straight wins with a victory at home Wednesday over Bay Valley Conference foe College of Marin, 64-49.
The 49ers (20-2, 10-0 BVC) remain atop the BVC, two games up on second place Contra Costa (15-7, 8-2) heading into the weekend. Next week, Yuba begins its final five regular season games Wednesday at home against Merritt. On Feb. 8, head coach Doug Cornelius’ team travels to Solano, before a crucial home battle on Feb. 10 against Contra Costa. Yuba’s final two games are Feb. 15 at Los Medanos and home versus Napa Valley on Feb. 17 to round out the regular season. All games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Yuba College’s Marysville campus.
Yuba grabbed the lead from the tip and remained in control of that lead for the majority of the first half, illustrated by two dunks from 6-foot-4 freshman Devin Malcom that garnered a mass of energy from the stands. On top of these, RJ Smith added six points from smooth moves in the paint, including some beautiful hook shots. Freshman Caden Flowers brought in seven more while commanding the offense in the half.
Despite these efforts and what seemed to be a commanding lead, a dry spell for nearly five and a half minutes late in the first half allowed the Mariners to gain their first lead in the contest. The half would then finish out 28-27 Yuba.
Defense would prove to be key in the second half as both squads were stalemated, trading baskets and hardly getting more than a one-point lead for the first seven minutes of the half.
Swatted shots from Malcom and 6-foot-9 sophomore Konner Baroni, among other huge stops from the 49ers, aided a crucial run capped off by two deep threes from sophomore Ilyas Rafiq and free throws by freshman Demarreya Lewis-Cooper.
The run gave Yuba a double-digit lead with just minutes to go that would stick until the buzzer.
Four of Yuba’s men brought in double-digit points, including Flowers and Malcom each with 13 and another 10 from Smith and freshman Junior Sleezer, respectively. Rafiq added another 8 and Lewis-Cooper garnered 5 while handling the ball. A 17-for-25 free throw performance also helped propel the Niners to the win.
Yuba women fall short, 63-52
Yuba College women’s basketball went down in a tight grudge match with College of Main Wednesday at home, 63-52
The 49ers’ determined character showed early in the matchup as Marin went up 12-0 in the first quarter. Yuba (2-18, 0-8 BVC) inched its way back, creating a single digit deficit before the second half. The initial comeback was led by the squad’s only sophomore, Janae Blue-Horse, as she brought in 14 points to help push the Niners back into the game.
“They battled,” said head coach Erin Cunningham. “They dug themselves into a pretty deep hole in that first quarter, but they fought and they won the rest of the game.”
Yuba did outscore Marin for the rest of the contest as the 11-point final deficit shows. Nine points in 3-point shots from freshman Mercedes Yang plus mid-range contributions from freshman Danika Martin and Madalynn Biagi continued the comeback into the late quarters. In the end, the Niners’ six-person roster was unable to overcome the original run from Marin.
“It is tough only having six,” Cunningham commented. “(But) I have really great human beings, so we may be six but we are six-strong.”
Five of the six made point contributions, led by Blue-Horse with 18, followed by Yang with 11 and Martin with 10. Biagi also added 9 along with freshman Jaqueline Lopez bringing in 4.
The 49er women will continue to fight for its first conference win Monday at Laney College before returning home to take on Merritt College on Wednesday.
“This team has a ton of potential that they haven’t even scratched the surface yet,” said Cunningham. “They learned to believe in themselves.”
