Joe's J. Blog

  SALEM, Oregon – The Roadrunners kept a steady pace, found the right shots in Chemeketa’s largely zone defense and brought an intensity with them on their trip to the capital Feb. 4, defeating the Storm 74-69. The win completed a 2-0 sweep in their matchups this season. And just about everyone made a steady contribution, with five men in double figures – Kaiden Ford led the scoring with 17, Jackson Oglesby added 13 on 6-for-8 shooting, Gabe Townsend had 12, while JoJo Harrower and Anthony Best each contributed 10. “Basketball is not a capitalist game, right? This is a socialist game; the ball needs to get spread around,” Head Coach Todd Zimmermann said, “especially when we’re getting stops on defense, it gives you a chance to get out in numbers, it really gives you a chance to get going.”  That is just what the Beaks did, grabbing 23 points off of CCC turnovers. There were certainly moments of doubt. The game only had three lead changes, but the Willamette Valley rivals excha...

COOS BAY, Oregon - Gabe Townsend and Linn-Benton captured a well-earned 68-65 victory over Southwestern Oregon with a dagger from beyond the arc as the buzzer sounded. With each passing away NWAC game an increased call to steal a win has rung throughout the LB men’s basketball locker room. The Roadrunners finally picked up, and in a big way — defeating one of their conference’s top schools on Wednesday, Jan. 28, to snap their 0-4 start in away NWAC South contests. There was a strong sense of control, compared to many of the games the Beaks have had lately, and that seemed to work in their favor. Forcing a whopping 19 Laker turnovers, the Roadrunners picked up the most important one with just a second left on the clock. With minimal time and the score deadlocked at 65, freshman guard Braxton Long was tasked with inbounding the ball. In the corner, he found Townsend, who had decided it was time to head home. “You know they had a chance at the end, I think them turning it over was a lucky...

  Walk through the doors of LBCC’s Activities Center on a random day and you can just go shoot some hoops with your friends.  Stop by on a Tuesday or Thursday around noon and you’ll find freshman Ben Clements giving a friendly clinic on all he knows about basketball while the Linn-Benton basketball club gets some runs in. “We all play together, I kind of act as a trainer almost,” he said.  Clements, alongside club advisor Josiah Hunt, create a casual atmosphere that, in the words of Clements, is meant to be “an opportunity to help everyone grow their skillset and get better.” “Sometimes it’s hard with a busy schedule to exercise between classes,” said freshman member Jorge Aquino. "It's very important and just playing ball is such a good way to do it.”   Obviously, doing exercises in the form of activities you enjoy is much more gratifying, and makes it easier to build healthy habits. Many outdoor parks, especially around this time of year, don't have much baske...

  PORTLAND, OREGON – The spell of unfortunate results in road NWAC play continued for the Beaks on Saturday Jan. 24, losing in an overtime thriller to Clark, 84-78. Freshman Kaiden Ford led the way for the team with 21, albeit on a less than stellar eight for 24 shooting, including the most important bucket of the night for LB, a layup with two seconds on the clock to force overtime. “The play was for me to come off a screen and get the drive as I’m running to the hoop. It was a great pass from Gabe [Townsend],” Ford explained. Offensively, the Roadrunners were nothing short of sloppy, particularly to start the game – the team finished shooting 33% from the field as a team, a number that makes it incredibly tough to win a basketball game. Down by as much as 18 in the twilight of the first half, the team did storm back.  “The biggest key was just entering the start of the second half knowing we were still in the game,” Ford said. The team did show improvement defensively, playi...

  TROUTDALE, OREGON – Linn-Benton men's basketball team started out hot, the energy was strong, but Mt. Hood quickly snatched back a lead they would never relinquish, and ultimately handed the Beaks a 105-88 loss on Monday, Jan. 19. LBCC’s Kaiden Ford put up 38 points in the game, making it a bittersweet day for the Freshman point guard, who certainly would have accepted a more modest statline if it had meant a win. “We knew an important factor would really be driving to the rim on these guys. We’re not really a team that lives or dies by the three but when we got down the game changed a bit,” Ford said.  The team only shot 16 threes, which is right around what they usually do, but Ford shot 10 of them, showing he was confident shooting the rock, but also showing a lack of solid distribution that impacted the Roadrunners mightily. Defensively, the team had its bright spots – 10 team steals being a great figure mustered by the team. MHCC, however, was simply relentless in t...

  The gym wasn’t packed, but there was something about the home atmosphere that LB was feeding off in their Saturday afternoon 107-103 victory over Clackamas. Going into the Jan. 17 game and early in the contest, clear-cut challenges appeared. But a balanced team attack in a cardio-intensive, foul-heavy shootout secured a crucial home conference win.  Freshman guard Kaiden Ford led the team in scoring with 26 points — in 30 efficient minutes, where he also added three steals, a block and six rebounds, all while turning the ball over just once. “It’s all my teammates. Our spacing today, it was getting me shots. Wasn’t my best day from the line but having teammates like I have gives me a big boost,” Ford explained. Of the aforementioned challenges the team faced, an illness to top contributor forward Anthony Best reared its ugly head. Then came tough and consistent Clackamas ball pressure. The Cougars wanted to force the Beaks into bad shots. The response instead was steady ball...