Bellevue College’s men’s basketball team was on the verge of a huge upset after leading Skagit Valley 53-37 at halftime before faltering in the second half, and falling 83-78 Wednesday night at Courter Family Athletic Pavilion. The Bulldogs were deadly from the perimeter as Maui Sze was 5-for-6 from three-point range as the ‘dogs shot a scorching 64% from the field in the first half. Kai Warren and Ben Oleson contributed by finding the open shooters with 4 assists apiece in the process of building the 16 point lead at halftime.
In the second half, Skagit Valley made huge adjustments defensively and flipped the game, forcing BC to 26% shooting while outrebounding the Bulldogs 30-19.
Bellevue maintained a double-digit lead until the 13:00 mark when Skagit’s Malik Howard drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 64-57. The Cardinals would chip away and took their first lead with 8:27 left in the game on a three-pointer by Daniel Santana.
The game would stay close as Skagit Valley held onto a one point lead 78-77 with a little under two minutes to go but the Bulldogs could not overtake the lead, missing out on opportunities in the final minutes of play as Skagit Valley held on. Sze’s hot hand in the first half resulted in a team-high 23 points while O’Landa Baker had another solid game with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocked shots.
The loss puts BC at 1-1 on the year as the squad travels to Peninsula this Saturday April 10 for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff.
Last Updated April 9, 2021
