Bellevue College men’s basketball had to fend off a tough Yakima Valley squad in the final minutes for a narrow 67-64 win over the Yaks. The Bulldogs, coming off a series of high scoring blowout wins including back to back games scoring more than 100 points, were slowed down by Yakima, as the ‘dogs were able to fire off only 57 shots in the game.
The hot shooting from previous nights got cooled down as Bellevue shot 42% for the night and were only seven-for-21 from three point range.
Early on, it appeared it was going to be another high scoring blowout win for Bellevue as Shawn Etheridge nailed three consecutive three pointers to put Bellevue up 9-0. But the Yaks were able to stay even with BC the rest of the half and were only down 35-27 at halftime.
After leading for the entire first half, the Bulldogs found themselves behind for the first time in several games as the Yaks’ Koby McClure made two free throws at 13:15 to give Yakima a 46-45 lead. A three pointer and another quick bucket put Yakima up 51-45 with 10:21 to go in the game. The ‘dogs chipped away and tied it back up 56-56 with 5:32 on a Josiah Johnson jumper. Johnson then came up big in the final two minutes with five points in a span of 30 seconds to put BC up 65-62 with 1:24 to go. Max Mayo sealed the win after being fouled with time running out at 0:16 by sinking both of his free throws.
Johnson’s electric play in the second half led him to a team-leading 20 point night on nine-for-18 shooting. Bellevue now has a nine game win streak and will travel to Pierce this Wed. Dec. 17 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
Last Updated December 14, 2025
