COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : SCC Has Trouble but Takes GSAC Lead

Southern California College might be the only team in the Golden State Athletic Conference that can score 97 points and win ugly at the same time.

But even fouls, sloppy defense and still more fouls couldn’t stop the Vanguards from gaining a 97-83 victory over Azusa Pacific and first place in the conference Saturday night in Costa Mesa.

Although the game was far from fast-break basketball at its best, SCC Coach Bill Reynolds still had reasons to be pleased. The Vanguards (17-5, 4-1) lead Azusa Pacific (12-10, 3-2) in the conference, and Reynolds found out how deep his bench can be.

“We were sending in guys to play the post by lottery after a while,” Reynolds said. “We didn’t play much position defense tonight, but I was really proud of the bench for hanging in there.”

In addition to fouls that plagued center Darrin Kramer and forward Mike Henjum, the Vanguards played most of the game without leading rebounder Mike West, who left with 16 minutes 44 seconds left in the first half after being elbowed in the mouth. West was taken to Hoag Hospital, and 12 stitches were needed to close a cut on his lip.

Without West, who returned to SCC’s bench as a spectator late in the game, the Vanguards relied on reserve forward Keith Randolph, who has been a starter at times this year. Randolph scored 16 points and had six rebounds in the first half but also picked up three fouls before halftime.

In the second half, Reynolds turned to Mike Jones, who scored nine points and had six rebounds while Henjum, Randolph and Kramer took turns picking up their fourth fouls.

A basket by Jones closed an 11-5 SCC run with 8:02 left to give the Vanguards a 79-70 lead after Azusa Pacific had closed to within 68-65.

Randolph led SCC with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Rick Witmer added 23 points, despite an eight-for-24 shooting night.

In another Golden State Athletic Conference game: