Men’s Basketball: Echols triggers Lions

The Vanguard University men’s basketball team has yet to fire on all cylinders. Yet the Lions are 9-2 following Tuesday’s 81-75 win over the University of Northern British Columbia largely due to their ignition switch.

Senior guard Jaamon Echols, a transfer from Western Washington, scored a season-best 31 points to pace the host Lions in the first of two games in the Bill Reynolds Holiday Classic.

Echols scored 19 points after halftime to help Vanguard, ranked No. 21 in the NAIA as of Dec. 8, improve to 6-0 at home.

The ultra-quick, 5-foot-11 shooting guard spearheaded the winners, despite some frustration over a 10-for-22 shooting performance and a team-worst five turnovers.

“[Tuesday] just kind of felt a little weird,” said Echols, who was three for seven from three-point range, sank eight of 10 foul shots and added four steals, three rebounds and two assists. “This was one of those games where my handle just didn’t feel right and my shot was a little off. I was just trying to keep playing hard; keep playing defense and keep encouraging my guys to get the job done.”

In a span of a little more than five minutes early in the second half, it was Echols’ scoring production that was most uplifting to his injury-riddled team, which is down to nine available players.

UNBC (3-6), erased a 37-34 halftime deficit to pull even at 38-38 with 18:39 left in the game. And the Canadian school trailed just 41-40 with 17:29 left.

But Echols had five straight points, including a three-point play, to spark a 7-0 Vanguard run. And Echols had five points during a second 7-0 surge moments later that put the Lions up, 57-49, with 11:48 to play.

“We have a lot of key guys out, so I try to step up in more ways than one,” Echols, who came in averaging 21 points per game, said.

When the Timberwolves pulled within 70-68 with 3:25 remaining, Echols scored nine of his team’s final 11 points, including a three-pointer with 1:59 left, to help secure the win.

“I think Jaamon finished really well,” Vanguard Coach Rhett Soliday said. “But I think he is a little frustrated. He is making the right moves and getting to the right spots on the floor, where he normally shoots a high percentage. He is just having a few shots that aren’t falling. When he’s attacking like he was tonight and finishing at the rim, he is a 14-for-22 guy [shooting]. His first step is incredible. He probably has the best burst of anyone we’ve had here.”

Zach Allmon, a 6-8 junior, helped lead the Lions with 20 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Christian Ware-Berry had 13 points and six rebounds.

Vanguard senior point guard Myles Smith led the winners with five assists and five steals and was two for three from threedom to chip in six points.

Sophomore Malachi Hoosein had seven rebounds, three points, four assists and two steals to round out a starting lineup that had all but eight of the Lions’ points.

“One of the things we have tried to build our program on is depth, because we ask our guys to play extremely hard,” Soliday said. “But our depth is hurting right now, because of injuries and we are a little smaller than we’re used to being. But we have to be smarter with the ball and attack more. We’re figuring it out, but it’s a grind right now.”

Vanguard, which had just seven of the game’s 26 turnovers, has lost junior guard Brandon Hood for the season after knee surgery. Additionally, 6-8 junior Antonio Bishop is out indefinitely with a concussion, and 6-4 junior Aubrey Myers is sidelined with a broken foot, Soliday said.

“It’s a testament to our guys that we’re 9-2,” Soliday said, “And the two games we lost, we feel like we were right there. I think we’re growing and learning, but we still need to get better and play better in conference. That’s all that matters.”

Vanguard concludes the event named after its late former coach, who guided the program to 353 wins over 17 seasons, including 10 seasons with at least 20 wins through 1998, on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against the University of Alberta.

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Bill Reynolds Holiday Classic

Opening round

Vanguard 81, Northern British Columbia 75

UNBC — Plumb 14, Loukas 2, MacKay 11, Elliott 9, Cheng 7, Rowe 10, Hokanson 7, Gosal 6, Chandler 5, Molcak 4.

3-pt. goals – MacKay 3, Rowe 2, Gosal 2, Hokanson 1, Plumb 1.

Fouled out – Elliott.

Technicals – None.

VU — Allmon 20, Ware-Berry 13, Echols 31, Smith 6, Hoosein 3, Burke 6, Brothers 2.

3-pt. goals – Echols 3, Smith 2, Ware-Berry 1, Hoosein 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – 37-34, VU.