Lawson's 29 points lifts Rams over Vikings
VICTORVILLE • The Victor Valley College men's basketball team plays at a fast pace.
That play has resulted in a team that's averaging the second most points in California coming into its game with Barstow Community College at 87.7 points.
On Wednesday night, the Vikings gave the Rams all they could handle.
But Max Barkeley hit a go-ahead 3-point field goal with just over 2 minutes to play, and VVC held on to beat Barstow Community College 96-90 to snap a six-game losing streak and pick up its first Foothill Conference win of the season.
"Our biggest philosophy we've taken is let's not hold our guys back," VVC interim coach Bobby Godinez said. "Let's let them play basketball, and if we're going to lose, we're going to lose firing."
The Rams (11-8, 1-1 FC) pulled out a win in a game with 14 lead changes, four of them coming in the final five minutes. Kimani Lane chipped in with 24 points, Justin Knowles had 13 and Barkeley finished with 11 points.
"It was a very fast-paced game," Godinez said. "We knew they could put the ball in the basket. It's something we do well, which is push the ball. I actually think they did a better job, and they put a lot of pressure on us to make baskets at the end. Fortunately, we got a couple extra baskets than they did.
"I believe their coaching staff deserves a lot of credit. They did a very good job."
For Barstow Community College (1-17, 0-2 FC), the Vikings' losing streak was extended to eight games. Javone Rabon led BCC with 24 points, Daniel Gampe added 20 points and Nate Lopez finished with 16.
"Every game's been like that. They come out, they compete, they play hard, because they're playing into my philosophy," BCC coach Gerry Wright said. "We're not playing against the other team, we're not playing against the clock or the score, we're playing against ourselves. I'm challenging them to get better as players."
In that six-game losing streak for Victor Valley College coming into Wednesday, Godinez said four of those losses came against teams that were ranked in the top 15 in state when they met, and three of them were by six points or less.
On Wednesday, Victor Valley College took a 50-47 lead into halftime and led by as much as 12 points, but BCC started to chip away. Eventually Lopez hit a 3-pointer to give Barstow an 80-78 lead with 7:41 to play, and from there it was a back-and-forth game.
Down by a point at 86-85, VVC's Lawson — who leads the state in scoring at 27.0 points per game — hit a base line jumper with two men in his face to give the Rams the lead again.
Then BCC quickly pushed the ball downcourt and Rabon re-gave the lead to Barstow at 88-87.
Barkeley gave VVC the lead for good with a corner 3 with 2:11 to play. BCC missed a shot in transition following a VVC turnover, and the Rams hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
VVC hosts Chaffey College on Saturday at 3 p.m. in a game that could be a playoff spot or have conference title contention on the line.
BARSTOW COMMUNITY COLLEGE (90)
Rabon 22, Gampe 20, Lopez 16, Young 11, Bonner 9, Saenz 8, Erwin 6.
VICTOR VALLEY COLLEGE (96)
Lawson 29, Lane 24, Knowles 13, Barkeley 11, Brown 11, Plunkett 8.
Halftime — Victor Valley College 50-47. 3-point field goals — Barstow Community College 11 (Gampe 5, Lopez 3, Saenz 2, Tuiasosopo); Victor Valley College 12 (Knowles 3, Barkeley 3, Lane 3, Brown 2, Lawson). Technical Foul — Rabon (B).
C.J. Daft can be reached at christiand@vvdailypress.com or at 760-951-6275.