The 2001-2002 Yuba College men’s basketball team is a talented group of quick freshmen and a few returners that looks to improve on the 1-6 start they have posted through the early part of the new season. If thier last two games are any indication, things are definitely headed in the right direction. The turnaround may have happened in the sixth game of the season when the winless 49ers travelled down to the Monterey Peninsula last week and clawed out thier first win of the season over the hosting Lobos. It was a scrappy, high scoring affair in which Yuba freshman guard Kenny Smith, one of the suprises of the young season, continued his streak of leading the team in scoring by dropping a team high 20 points. Also contributing to the squad’s first win was Tony Lewis who added a hefty 16.The Niner’s next game was a home game versus the (___), and Yuba continued thier strong play, and had a lead late in the game though a late call that could’ve gone either way, ended up against the home team, and the other team made good on both free throws, thus putting an end to the closely fought match.Despite the 1-6 record, the Niners have not had trouble keeping up with opponents, yet putting the games away is what seems to be the puzzle which they have yet to solve. In many of the early games, Smith has been Yuba’s leading scorer, knocking down three 3-pointers and 22 points in a loss to DeAnza in the Shasta Tournament, and he also led on the scoresheet with 17 points during a regular season contest at Shasta. Smith hails from Encina, where the 6-3 guard averaged 28 points per game last year.
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