College men’s basketball: Vanguard men clean house

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - Garbage time was the theme for the Vanguard University

men’s basketball team in its 94-74 Golden State Athletic Conference

victory over visiting Hope International Saturday.

Not only did the Lions (8-8, 4-3 in the GSAC), virtually end the game

with a 33-point lead (70-36) with 11:41 left, but Vanguard’s post players

took care of the dirty work, grabbing rebounds and scoring down low.

The Lions, winners of six of their last seven, scored 30 points in the

paint, 16 from offensive rebounds in the first half, to build a 44-28

lead. Hope (3-13, 1-5) grabbed just three offensive rebounds before

halftime and produced just two points from that. Overall, the Lions

outrebounded the Royals, 53-29, 24-10 on the offensive boards.

“I think our inside game is probably the best in the (GSAC),” said

Vanguard senior Shane McKim, who scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds

in 25 minutes. “Our inside game makes opponents have to adjust and that

was the difference.”

Lions’ senior forward Damion Morbley also controlled inside the paint,

scoring a team-high 23 points and grabbing a game-high 17 boards. Ian

Boys, Vanguard’s 6-foot-7 center, took down eight rebounds, five

offensively, and 6-7 Leviticus Williamson added 12 points.

“We have the desire to get after the offensive rebounds,” said McKim,

30, whose experience is beneficial. “We just want the ball more and you

can’t teach that.”

Vanguard opened the game with an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes.

The Royals responded 10-3 run to pull within, 14-12, 13:44 before the half, but that was as close as they got.

The Lions closed out the first half with an 18-8 run over the final

seven minutes. They then stormed the Royals in the second half reeling

off runs of 10-0, and, 9-0, to grab the 70-37 lead. The first half was

all about offensive rebounds and put-backs for Vanguard, and in the

second half the Lions beat up Hope with a wicked transition game.

“We just have more talent (than Hope),” Vanguard Coach Stephen French

said. “(The win) was sloppy. We didn’t do a lot of the things that we

wanted to do. We responded well in the second half.”

The Royals went on a 10-0 run in two minutes with under five minutes

to play to lessen the damage. Ben Rogers led Hope with a game-high 29

points, hitting 3 of 6 from three-point land. However, the Royals were

mostly limited to one shot on each of their possessions.

The easy victory with the strong inside presence also resulted in

confidence for the Lions as they prepare for two pivotal GSAC games,

hosting Point Loma Tuesday and playing at second-place Azusa Pacific

Saturday. Vanguard is in contention for third behind first-place Biola

and with 14 games remaining the Lions believe they can surprise their

opponents.

“We have the talent and the pieces are there,” French said. “But the

only thing we need is for our intensity to pick up.”