BCC Men's Basketball: Vikings riding three-game winning streak

BARSTOW •  The claim might be as debated as any conspiracy theory or tabloid rumor or but the Barstow Community College men’s basketball players insist they saw tears coming from their coach’s eyes.

The Vikings had finally ended a long losing streak with a 82-75 win against San Diego Mesa College on Nov. 11. It was the program’s first win since February 2008 and coach Reggie Howard’s first win guiding the Vikings.

It was in the those moments following the win that sophomore guard Marcus Shannon asserts that there was a little sparkle in his coach’s eye.
“Coach was a little teary eyed,” said Shannon after practice on Wednesday. “He sparked a few feelings from

myself seeing him so emotional. It made our team kind of emotional.”
It’s a claim that Howard vehemently denys.

“Teary eyed?” Howard questioned. “That’s a complete fabrication.”
Tears or no tears, who could blame him for being emotional? Howard suffered through a 0-26 campaign in his first season at BCC and began this season 0-2. What definitely was real was the win.

As it turns out, it was just the beginning. The Vikings (3-2) have run off three straight victories entering tonight’s game at Bakersfield College at 5:30 p.m.

The win against San Diego Mesa was Howard’s first win as a junior college head coach. While he’s quick to note he’s been a part of many wins in his coaching career that began in the late ’80s, the streak had begun to bother him. The day after the win he said it was like getting King Kong off his back more so than just a monkey.

“It’s good for the kids, and it’s definitely good for me,” Howard said. “It makes you sleep a little easier at night.”
Howard came to Barstow after coaching stints at Mt. San Jacinto College, Long Beach State and Cal State San Bernardino. From conference titles to NCAA tournament runs, each program he was a part of had success.

Barstow was going to need work. Howard accepted the job at BCC in late September with the season set to begin in November. He was a last-minute hire with a team he didn’t recruit. He later found out many of players he was given didn’t even have much high school experience. Despite the Vikings struggles, Howard said he still has a special connection to those players.

“They hold a fond spot in my heart because they never quit,” Howard said. “They lost the first game by 15 and the last game by five. They showed improvement, but it just wasn’t enough to succeed on the scoreboard.”
The team was overhauled during the summer. Along with adding assistant coaches Kenneth Roy and Kendall Nichols, Howard brought in 12 new players — several of which had been recruited by NCAA Division I teams.
Galander Abdelrahman and Malik Amandla, a former Silver Valley player, are the lone returners from last season.

Abdelrahman led the team in scoring, averaging 11.8 points per game while Amandla redshirited.
Abdelrahman said he was on the verge of leaving but Howard convinced him to stay.

“He kept me here,” Abdelrahman said. “He really did. These losses — I couldn’t take it. I was about to go home.”
As the offseason dragged on, Abdelrahman began to see talent walk through the doors of the Jim Parks Gymnasium. The recruits offered a chance for success at Barstow college.

Shannon said he didn’t know much about the Vikings previous season but didn’t hold their winless record against Howard.

“He really didn’t have a chance to show his coaching ability,” Shannon said. “I was real understanding about the situation last year. I still knew he was a good coach from what he accomplished at Long Beach State.”
Sophomore guard Ray Mitchell temporarily left the Vikings after his first season in 2007-2008 but Howard also convinced him to return. As the team began to practice, the players began to see potential.

“It took a minute,” Mitchell said. “You could see the talent, but we were a little disorganized in the beginning. But as the days went on you could see it coming.”

Even with a taller, more talented and more experienced roster, Howard wasn’t given much comfort when the Vikings opened this season 0-2. In the season opener they missed six-straight free throws to lose a game they led most of the way. In the second game against College of Redwoods, Howard admitted to allowing his team to play too passively.

“After that I said we are going to start bringing some pressure and make them make some adjustments to us instead of us make adjustments to them,” Howard said.

It was a move that finally culminated in his first win at BCC.

After the final buzzer went off against San Diego Mesa College, Howard and Abdelrahman shared a quick moment.

“I remember he said, ‘Dang coach, that feels good. How do you feel? .... I think said, ‘God, yes it was good. For me and you, it’s been a long time. Hopefully it’s the start of something special.’ ” Howard said.

So far, so good.

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mpeters@desertdispatch.com