Joe's J. Blog

  ALBANY – Linn-Benton’s men’s basketball faced off against Umpqua at home on Wednesday, Feb. 11. The game was a heated back-and-forth affair that wasn’t decided until the Riverhawks pulled away down the stretch, handing the Beaks a bitter 84-69 loss. In a game that saw 16 lead changes, LB’s plan was to use their aggression and lack of size (compared to UCC) to their advantage by running a full-court press defensively and collapsing their opponents to find open shooters offensively. “When we played them in Roseburg we were really trying to push them out of the paint and play their game,” said sophomore forward Gabe Townsend. “This time around we were really just embracing the fact that they were bigger than us; meet them where they stood, contest every shot hard, prove we were the more aggressive team, which I think we did.”  Townsend led the way for the team with an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double. Freshman Kaiden Ford added 16 while sophomore big Jackson Oglesby had himse...

  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...