Merced College basketball quickly breaking in new scoreboards

Don Reid Court has slowly been getting upgraded over the last year.

A resurfaced court. A fresh coat of paint in the fall. Last week, the school completed the makeover with two new scoreboards, complete with light-up backboards to make last-second shots easier for officials to call.

The Merced College men’s basketball team didn’t waste time putting the scoreboards to work, turning in high-scoring victories. The Blue Devils outlasted scrappy Cerro Coso 90-87 on Wednesday and followed with a thrilling 93-90 overtime victory over Sequoias on Saturday.

State No. 20 Merced (15-8, 7-3 Central Valley Conference) has won three straight games and six of seven. The victories, coupled with Columbia’s upset of Fresno City on Saturday, have the Blue Devils one game behind the first-place Rams with four games to play.

Theft on the rise – Mia Belvin wasted little time writing her name into the UC Merced record book.

A week ago, the freshman had a good chance to break the women’s basketball team’s season record of 61 steals, sitting at 52 with six regular-season games to get it done. She accomplished the feat in two, recording 11 total steals in a victory over Benedictine and an overtime loss to Embry-Riddle.

Belvin’s 63 steals rank tied for 17th in the nation, and her per-game average ranks 12th. The guard has four regular-season games left to pad her record and likely at least one postseason tilt.

Power surge – The long ball isn’t quite as synonymous with collegiate baseball as it once was.

The introduction of the BBCOR bat as a safety measure has greatly reduced the carry on the ball, making a home run a far less-regular occurrence. Of the 88 California community colleges that compete in baseball, 40 didn’t even reach double-digit dingers a year ago.

It made the Merced College baseball team’s offensive outburst Saturday all the more fun. The Blue Devils (2-2) hit four long balls, going back-to-back in consecutive innings as they rolled Cañada 23-2. Zach Beal started the power display, blasting a fifth-inning grand slam. Jesus Duran followed with a solo shot.

Merced was back at it the next time up, as Gavin Gaffaney belted a pinch-hit three-run homer and Trevor Chaney followed with a solo smash.

Final push – The UC Merced men’s basketball team’s postseason hopes took a serious hit with a home loss to Embry-Riddle on Saturday.

The 50-42 loss was particularly disappointing coming off Thursday night’s upset of then-first-place Benedictine. The Bobcats (6-16, 4-6 California Pacific Conference) sit in fifth place, 2  1/2 games behind Pacific Union (7-4) for the fourth and final spot in the Cal Pac Tournament.

With four games left, UCM pretty much needs to win out to have a chance. The good news is two games are against the league’s bottom two teams and a third is against Pacific Union.

The women’s basketball team is in better shape but left the door ajar with Saturday’s overtime loss to Embry-Riddle. The Bobcats (13-9, 7-3 Cal Pac) remain in second place but sit just a half game in front of third-place Benedictine and Simpson and 1 1/2 games in front of fifth-place Embry-Riddle.

This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Merced College basketball quickly breaking in new scoreboards."