Source: NWAACC.org

The Bellevue College men and women’s basketball teams travelled east to Spokane for the March 3-6 NWAACC basketball tournament. The Bulldog women (24-6 overall) qualified as a number two seed, while the men (23-7 overall) were a number three seed.
The women started off the tournament with a loss to the Clackamas Cougars that by all accounts was a well-played game. Bellevue forward TyShana Burgess and guard Kelsey Sparks each added 19 points to the losing effort. Cougars, which was ahead 37-35 at halftime, was able to pull away in the second because of numerous opportunities at the free throw line. The Cougars outscored Bellevue 18-5 in free throw points, leading to a 74-65 win for the Cougars.
The following day, a motivated Bellevue women’s team ploughed through the overmatched Tacoma Titans on route to a 74-55 victory. Bellevue, once again led by Sparks scoring, dominated the Titans by shooting a quality 48 percent from the field and overpowered the Titans on the offensive and defensive boards. However, the biggest difference in the game came from Bellevue’s ability to create 23 points off of Titan’s turnovers.
The ladies again played well against the Centralia Trailblazers, beating them 71-49 before entering the final day of the tournament to face the Umpqua Riverhawks. Playing their fourth game in as many days, the Bulldog women finished off their trip to Spokane with a 68-45 victory over the Riverhawks. Led behind 16 points from sophomore forward Sandra Milovic, the Bulldogs pulled out to an early 38-20 first half lead. Bellevue continued to pour it on in the second half while dominating second chance points and points off turnovers. The Riverhawks were ice cold from the field, only shooting a dismal 27 percent as a team.
With the win, the Bulldog women wrapped up their season with a seventh place finish in the tournament.
Before the tournament began, men’s head coach Jeremy Eggers was excited about his team’s chances this year, saying that this year’s squad was one of the deepest he’s ever coached. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as hoped for the Bulldog men in Spokane.
It started with a 94-84 loss to the Chemeketa Storm, who eventually went on to lose to Tacoma in the championship game. Bellevue trailed by only one point at halftime, but the Storm were able to pull away in the second half behind a brutally balanced offensive attack that featured six players with more than 11 points. Bellevue’s Jonathan Humphrie added 35 points in the loss.
Bellevue then won a nail-biter game against the Clark Penguins 74-71. The Bulldogs held a commanding 40-28 halftime lead, but the Penguins came storming back to score 43 second-half points. Bellevue was able to hold off the comeback with their superb 41 percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
The Bulldogs proceeded to thump Clackamas 75-56 before facing a well-known rival in Shoreline. Bellevue and Shoreline finished third and fourth in the North Division this season and split their two regular season meetings, with Bellevue winning the final meeting in February 116-85.
A Shoreline team looking to rectify their embarrassing loss earlier in the season squeaked out a win over Bellevue 92-88. Despite a fantastic shooting effort from Bellevue, Shoreline was able to take advantage of the Bulldogs’ sloppy play and turnovers. The loss ended the men’s season, designating them eighth place in the tournament.
While both teams hoped for more in the postseason tournament, we extend our congratulations to the men and women’s teams on a great season, and look forward to watching them play next year.

Illustration by Brandy Pickering

It may not be obvious from looking outside, but spring is fast approaching and with it comes the warmer weather sports, most notably, tennis.
The Bellevue College Women’s tennis team recently travelled to the University of Puget Sound to play a preseason scrimmage against Whitman College.
Whitman, a four-year institution, beat the BC women in most singles and doubles matches, but Bellevue showed resilience with the performance of second year player, Martha Santos.
Ranked as the number two players on the team, Santos won her singles match 2-6-1 and her doubles 8-3 with longtime partner Jazi Ahyat.
Santos, who moved to Seattle from California and has been playing tennis for over ten years, was only lukewarm about her play. “I didn’t play great. I did OK, but I can definitely do better.”
Jason Chapman, who played four years of tennis at Eastern Washington University, has been the head coach of the BC tennis team since 1998 and says his girls will play any competition they can get. “If they are willing to play us, we’ll go and play them. Most years we travel to Salem, Oregon to play Willamette. This year we are also going all the way to Ontario, Oregon to play Treasure Valley.”
BC remains in the NWAACC conference for tennis but shares the conference with only four other teams, creating the need to seek out other opponents. “The four-year universities we play are able to spend more time and money recruiting players, but we still learn a lot about our team by playing them,” said Chapman as he watched his players run through indoor drills on a wet Wednesday afternoon.
Despite sometimes being over-matched by the four-year universities, Chapman says he’s able to get a gauge on where his team is at, which is particularly important this season as the team has several new faces. “I don’t think our team is as strong this year as it was last year. We lost four good players and I’m still trying to see where we are at in terms of talent.”
The BC tennis team has won seven consecutive NWAACC championships dating back to 2005. Even with a weaker team, Chapman still hopes to return to Spokane in May for the championships. “My expectations going in every year are that we make it to Spokane and compete for a title. Even though our team isn’t as strong, I still feel that we can do that.”
Even though the team is thought to be less talented than in recent years, Chapman was forced to cut four players from open tryouts in early February. The current eight player roster is the maximum amount Chapman allows in order for all the players to receive adequate playing time.
The team has all of its practices and home games at Robinswood Tennis Center across the street from Bellevue College. For the month of February the girls were practicing three times a week, but as the season shifts into full gear, they will switch to five practices a week in March, April and May, with each session over an hour long.
The BC women get an opportunity to show off their talent at the individual tournament on March 10-11 in Stanwood. The tournament will feature all singles and doubles players in the same weekend.

BC Men's Basketball vs. Shoreline. Photo by Amy Leong

As the Bellevue Bulldog men’s basketball team suited up for a Wednesday evening matchup against the Shoreline Dolphins, they had a postseason berth on their minds.

A win on their home court against the 10-6 Dolphins would mean clinching a playoff berth for the eighth consecutive year.

The Bulldogs left little room for question in a convincing 116-85 victory over a Shoreline team that had playoff aspirations of their own.

Bellevue look to be a dangerous team in the NWAACC tournament beginning on Mar. 3.

As of now the Bulldogs will enter the tournament as a three seed, but a win over Peninsula in the regular season finale would bump them up to a two seed, allowing them to place second in the North Division behind Whatcom.

Jeremy Eggers, who is in his ninth season as head coach, feels that his team, led by sophomore captains Jonathan Humphrie and Rex Nelson, can be a major threat in the tournament and win it all. “We’ve finished eighth, fourth, sixth, and second but never won the whole thing. It just hasn’t happened but I think we’ve got a great chance this year.”

The Bulldogs, who currently have a record of 21-4, have recorded eight 20 plus win seasons in a row. Furthermore, for the past six consecutive seasons, Bellevue has placed in the top eight in the NWAACC tournament of 16 teams, the first time that has been done in school history.

Coach Eggers feels that this year’s team ranks as one of the best he’s coached at Bellevue, but the competition has stiffened as well. “Depthwise this is one of the best teams we’ve had. All 11 guys can play, and they have great chemistry together. But the league as a whole has gotten better.”

The men’s basketball team has been crowned NWAACC champions twice in school history, the last in the 92’-93’ season when the team was called the Helmsmen. The name was changed to Bulldogs prior to the 04’-05’ season.

While nothing inherently has changed in the way Coach Eggers approaches his game plans or prepares for an opponent, he admits that he’s mellowed throughout the years. “I’ve definitely relaxed more. I used to be really intense but it doesn’t consume me like it used to. Don’t get me wrong; I’m still passionate about the game, I’ve just allowed players more freedom and realized it is just a game.”

Coach Eggers has been awarded coach of the year honors four times during his tenure at Bellevue, but he says winning an NWAACC championship would trump those awards. “I felt honored winning the Coach of the Year awards but those are individual achievements and were mainly a testament to the assistant coaches who do so much to help me. A championship would be the ultimate team goal and would be great for the program.” Unfortunately, the team’s success has not produced higher attendance at home games, something Coach Eggers would like to see change. “I would love to see more support at the games, but I understand lots of students commute and we don’t have that sense of closeness as a campus. I think if there were more team coverage and more announcements around school, attendance would pick up.”

The Bulldog men will be traveling to the Toyota Center in Kennewick for the Mar. 3-6 NWAACC playoffs. The tournament is double elimination, but only the team that goes undefeated will be awarded the championship.

Keaton Hayenga attempts a layup. Photo by Amy Leong

On a drizzly Presidents Day evening, the Bellevue Bulldog men convincingly stated their league presence against the visiting Everett Trojans in a 90-73 drubbing.

In front of a nearly full gym, Bellevue in their home whites and Everett in their road reds exchanged lead changes for most of the first half before Bellevue took a commanding half time lead.

Everett, which is 1-13 in divisional play and currently last in the North division, held a 26-22 lead with 8:40 left in the first half. 5’8 Trojan guard Zach Cooper from Arlington, WA, led all scorers with 25. His dangerous quickness and pretty left-handed jump shot provided the only real offensive threat for an Everett team that played far better than their record indicates.

After Trojan timeout with 4:23 remaining in the first half, Bellevue proceeded to rip off a 13-0 run, capped off with a three pointer by Jonathan Humphrie in the left corner as time expired, ending the half with Bellevue ahead 40-31.

The game turned sloppy in the second half; turnovers and free throw shooting played a big role in the Bulldogs victory. Bellevue began trapping the wings in their high 2-3 half-court defense, at times disrupting the Trojan offense, resulting in 22 points off turnovers and easy fast break opportunities for Bellevue.

Despite the effectiveness of Bellevue’s trapping defense, they veered away from it for stretches, falling back into a straight 2-3. This allowed Everett to remain close much of the second half, trailing by only two with 9:48 remaining.

The Trojans 1-2-2 collapsing zone worked well at forcing difficult shots for the Bellevue big men in the first half, but the physicality of Rex Nelson and Keaton Hayenga wore down the Trojan interior defense, creating points in the paint, offensive rebounds and trips to the free throw line. Bellevue made a living at the stripe, shooting 92.9% on 26 of 28 attempts, while Everett only got to the line five times the entire game.

With 5:05 left, Bellevue went on a 13-4 run, stretching their lead to 74-63 and in essence closing the door on any hopes of a Trojan victory. Second chance points and rebounding fueled the run and played an important part in Bellevue’s ability to pull away in a close game. On the night, Bellevue out rebounded Everett 36 to 28 and produced 15 second chance points in comparison to Everett’s four.

With Bellevue ahead 83-70 with 2:46 remaining, Everett began hoisting desperation three pointers that yielded no results. Alec Wilson dribbled out the clock and when the final horn sounded the scoreboard read 90-73.

Bellevue currently sit in third in the north division, one game behind Peninsula and four games behind Whatcom.

Imagine sitting with your friends and family in front of a camera broadcasting to millions of viewers on national television and having to tell the world your plan for the future of your life. Now imagine you’re an 18-year-old senior in high school.

Not a lot of people can handle that kind of pressure, especially at such a young age, but the nation’s top high school recruits come out every year and announce in front of the world where they will be playing their college ball.

College footballs national signing day is always a day full of drama. Prized recruits change their mind about verbal commitments at the last second, leaving one school heartbroken and another ecstatic.

A recruit changing their mind last minute to attend a different school is not an uncommon occurrence. The family pushes him to chose a school closer to home or he decides on a school where he’ll have more friends.

This year, Cassanova McKinzy, a linebacker from Birmingham, Alabama may have taken the cake for the most ridiculous reason to change a commitment. When asked why he had committed to Auburn University rather than Clemson, McKinzy responded by saying, “(It was) kind of the environment and plus they had no Chick-fil-A on campus.” He added, “You had to go probably 15 minutes off campus to go to a real restaurant. Their café was kind of small.” The most comical part of the situation is not McKinzy’s clear lack of decision-making skills but rather that there is in fact a Chick-fil-A on the Clemson campus. After his statement garnered so much attention from the press, McKinzy tried to retract his words by saying he was only kidding, and Chick-fil-A was not the only reason he chose Auburn over Clemson.

Regardless whether we believe McKinzy or not, it brings up the question of if these 18-year-old boys are mature enough to be making such big decisions on national television.

It’s clear ESPN will broadcast a special on nearly anything relating to sports. That was most obvious when ESPN aired “the decision,” a primetime weeknight special advertised for days in advance, where LeBron James revealed his decision that he would chose to play for the Miami Heat.

If ESPN is willing to make a special about where you chose to go to college, what high school senior would turn down an opportunity to go on national television with friends and family and make a spectacle of it?

A recruit like Rushel Shell just may be the exception. Shell, a running back from Western Pennsylvania, had planned on attending Alabama, a powerhouse school where he would get all kinds of recognition to further his career but instead chose to attend Pitt. His plans changed after his girlfriend became pregnant with twins. Shell made a grownup decision and decided stay closer to home by electing to go to Pitt so he could help take care of his soon to be children.

A recruit like Shell shows the potential for maturity in the process but it’s a far cry to ask other 18-year-old boys to behave like him.

While the big hoopla about the signing day process may be flawed from both sides, I think a disappointed headshake should be given to those who exploit the situation for profit and put these high schoolers in front of millions and expect them to make mature, well thought out decisions about the future of their lives.

Jon Humphrie scored 14 points in the road win over Edmonds. photo by Rich Dworkis

The sixth-ranked Bellevue College men’s basketball team took to the road last week with two trips in the NWAACC North region. On Wednesday, Feb. 15, Bellevue travelled to number one Whatcom Community College to take on the Orcas. Whatcom jumped out to an early eight-point lead, but the Bulldogs quickly responded and took a 38-37 lead into the locker room at half time. Bellevue’s stingy first half defense quickly disappeared in the second half as the Bulldogs allowed 60% shooting in the last stanza. This coupled with Whatcom’s nine-point advantage from the three -point line led to Bellevue’s demise. Whatcom earned an 85-74 victory ending Bellevue’s outside chance at back-to-back North region titles.

The Bulldogs had five players scoring double digits: Keaton Hayenga scored18 points and six rebounds on the evening, Rex Nelson scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Tre Benton netted 14 points off the bench, Jon Humphrie added 13 points, and Eric Turner rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

On Saturday, Feb. 18, Bellevue took to the road again to face the Tritons of Edmonds Community College. In this contest, Bellevue jumped out to an early lead that they held onto, never allowing the Tritons closer than nine points in the last ten minutes of the game. The Bulldogs walked away with a 74-56 victory behind a strong defensive effort. Bellevue held Edmonds to 40% shooting and forced 12 turnovers. The Bulldogs were led by 16 points from Humphrie and 14 from Hayenga. Freshman Dallas Smith gave the Bulldogs a huge lift off the bench with 15 points, all in the second half. Smith recorded his career high thanks to 75% shooting from the three-point line. Turner scored 12 points and played an excellent floor game leading the Bulldog offense.

Bellevue faces a daunting schedule to finish region play. The Bulldogs start the week with two home games: first hosting Everett Community College on Monday, Feb. 20 at p.m.; then Wednesday, Feb. 22, facing the Dolphins of Shoreline Community College at 7:30 p.m.; and, finally, wrapping up North region play and the regular season with a trip to Port Angeles to face Peninsula College the 2011 NWAACC Champions on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m.

True sports fans understand that the highest level of competition doesn’t always equal the best entertainment. Some fans decidedly prefer college sports over professional because of the atmosphere of the games, competition for the love of the sport, and most importantly, the bitter rivalries. However, as conference realignment continues to reshape college athletics to better benefit football, some of the most storied college basketball rivalries are disappearing.

Sure, professional sports has great rivalries like the Red Sox and Yankees, Lakers and Celtics, or Packers and Bears, but none take on the same ferocity as seen in college sports.        In the past, professional athletes would remain with one team for the majority of their career, allowing heated rivalries to build with other franchises. Today, with the frequency players change teams, athletes are buddy-buddy with competitors, as they were at one time teammates in another city. In this current era it’s not uncommon for a player to bounce between four teams in six seasons, negating any real opportunity for professional rivalries.

In college sports this problem doesn’t exist and fans get treated to rivalries like nowhere else. Earlier this season Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo was quoted referring to rival Michigan saying, “Do I respect John Beilein? Tremendously. Do I respect their school? Tremendously. Do I like them? Not one bit.”

The question is why would colleges do anything to disrupt these rivalries? The answer is money and football.

The majority of funding for a Division I program comes from television. And the most watched college sport is football. So in the most essential form, conferences want to add more schools, increasing their viewing window and driving up the price of a television contract.

One of the most recent examples of this was the former Pac-10 adding two schools, Utah and Colorado, to become the Pac-12. Conference commissioner Larry Scott was then able to strike a three billion dollar television deal with ESPN and Fox, dispersing $20.8 million a year to each team in the conference.

While this seems like a win-win all around, it doesn’t account for the basketball rivalries that will be lost when schools jump to different conferences.

The Pac-12 has only added teams and has thus not affected rivalries. But the longtime rivalry between Kansas and Missouri, referred to as the “border war,” has likely seen its last game, as Missouri will move to the SEC in July.

The backyard brawl between West Virginia and Pitt will soon end. The two have played at least once every season since 1915, but West Virginia is heading to the Big 12 next season.

Syracuse will be departing from the big east in 2014, putting an end to a historic rivalry with Georgetown. Syracuse head basketball coach Jim Boeheim described the whole situation best when he said, “If conference commissioners were the founding fathers of this country, we would have Guatemala, Uruguay and Argentina in the United States. This audience knows why we are doing this. There’s two reasons: Money and football.”

Few have been this candid in their comments about the realignment, but it’s refreshing to hear a coach speak his mind.

In time there’s no doubt that new and maybe even greater rivalries will form, but for now, watching history end and seeing teams you thought would play each other forever go their separate ways because of money doesn’t feel right.

Keaton Hayenga led Bellevue in a road win at Everett. photo by Rich Dworkis

In a crazy week dominated by wintry weather, the Bellevue College men’s basketball team saw more games postponed than actually played. However, on Saturday, Jan. 21, the Bulldogs traveled to Everett Community College for an important North region matchup. Bellevue came into the game ranked number one in the NWAACC Coaches Poll and still carrying an undefeated record on the year.

Bellevue took an early lead and never looked back turning a nine-point half time lead into a 16-point victory. The Bulldogs enjoyed a breakout performance from freshman Tre Benton. In just his second game with the Bulldogs, Benton led the team in scoring with 21 points and also
added six rebounds. Keaton Hayenga recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Rex Nelson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points. With this win, the Bulldogs improved to 4-0 in North region play and 14-0 overall.

The Bulldogs face a daunting stretch over the next week, playing five games in ten days. Their first challenge is Monday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m., hosting the Orcas of Whatcom Community College (5-0, 13-2). Whatcom, the only other undefeated team in North region play, comes into the game ranked fourth in the NWAACC Coaches Poll. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Bellevue goes on the road to take on Shoreline CC (3-3, 9-8) at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs finish the week at home on Saturday, Jan. 28, with a 6 p.m. tip-off against the defending NWAACC champion Peninsula College Pirates (5-1, 15-2).

Reprinted from http://bellevuecollege.edu/athletics

Jon Humphrie leads the top-ranked Bulldogs in scoring this season. photo by Rich Dworkis

Reprinted from http://bellevuecollege.edu/athletics

Bellevue College’s men’s basketball team has been ranked among the nation’s best, coming in at #18 in the country. The Bulldogs are currently 14-1 and also ranked number one in the NWAACC Alaska Airlines Poll. Here is the link to the national rankings

By Nathan Krohn

(SOURCE:ncaa.org)

You’ve most likely heard the phrase “if you want something done, give it to a busy person.” In the case of collegiate athletes this may be true.

Being a college student is no easy task. Sleeping, socializing and homework fill a student’s schedule, and they’re lucky if they have time to complete more than two of the three. Add a school sport to that list and people might think you’re crazy.

It seems like a common misunderstanding that collegiate athletes are bad students. When you think about the time and effort that goes into being a student athlete, the misconception is almost understandable.

The fact is that nearly four out of five student athletes earn their diplomas on time, which is an all-time high. Furthermore, student athletes are more likely to graduate on time than other students.

According to NCAA statistics, 79 percent of all freshmen entering school in 2002-03 graduated within six years. This is a higher percentage than the average student body.

Current Chief Operating Officer of the NCAA Jim Isch discussed the visible increases in graduation rates amongst the major sports. “Over the last eight years, baseball is up ten points, and basketball is up five points. Football is up three percentage points in the bowl subdivision.”

With such substantial graduation success rates amongst student athletes, many students looking to transfer to a university this fall may want to consider participating in a school sport.

Granted, not everyone has the ability to take part in a Division I program, but intermural or club teams can be a great option.

So many students struggle with procrastination and or lack of exercise. Joining some kind of school-sanctioned sport may be the answer to both of those problems.

While club and intermural leagues aren’t nearly as competitive or require such a strong time commitment as an official school sport, they can provide you with a nice escape from the dangerous cycle of dorm, class, lunchroom, repeat.

Meet new people, exercise and most importantly, improve your grades.