LBCC Men Win a Pair of Huge Games, Final Stretch Looms (Feb. 17)

 ALBANY – The Roadrunners opened with a 2-0 lead and never looked back on Feb. 14, sending Clark packing in a 101-70 dismantling. Two days later, once again at home against Mt. Hood, the game was hotly contested until the Beaks took full control and sailed to a 100-80 win.A pair of century mark performances have provided a jolt in a make-or-break section of the team's schedule.

“We’re finally starting to come together and realize that the more intensity and desire we have to get up in the full court, take the ball away from the other team and really just have intensity through all 40, it’s the biggest indicator of how far we’ll go,” sophomore forward Gabe Townsend said.

Against Clark, a three-headed monster of freshmen guards Kaiden Ford and Kai Russell along with Townsend fueled the win. Ford led the way for the team with a hefty 34 points to go along with eight rebounds. Russell stepped beautifully into a starting role, putting up a season-high 25 points on 10-12 shooting in 37 brilliant minutes. Townsend had his typical steady contribution, adding 21 points and seven boards. 

The three players outscored the Penguins by 10 points all on their own.

“Attacking the rim hard was working well for the team and I. Attacking hard and making the unselfish play to kick it out, it helped us find our groove from the jump,” Ford said.

On Presidents Day, the Beaks brought that same fire with them to play MHCC. On both sides of the ball, it was Braxton Long who was acting as the centerpiece of the Roadrunners. Offensively, the Beaks were able to lean on the freshman guard, who was consistently blowing past his defender to lay the ball in or dish it out to an open man.

Long finished the game with 23 points and eight assists to go along with four blocks and two steals on the other end of the court.

“We started doing more traps and getting out in the passing lanes, the biggest key today for me was honestly just flying around,” Long said.

Ford once again led the team in scoring with 26 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

The team came in with clear adjustments from their last matchup with the Saints, which took place in Troutdale almost exactly a month ago.

“Coach Schlegel (the team’s assistant coach) defensively decided, let’s really commit to forcing them to beat us with twos, you can always beat a two, you can only ever tie a three, right?” Head Coach Todd Zimmermann said. 

That is exactly what LB did, containing a consistently deadly group of shooters in the Saints to only eight made threes. 

The contest was dissimilar to the win over Clark in that it was pretty competitive for quite some time. With seven minutes left on the clock, the Roadrunners grabbed the last of the game’s 11 total lead changes and stormed off on a 24-4 run to end it.

Everyone was eating in this one: JoJo Harrower had 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, Townsend contributed 13 points and eight rebounds, while Jackson Oglesby added 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman wing DeShawn Gilliam also had a nice, on-brand day, with three steals.

“When things don’t go well, like Umpqua the other night, we really take the time to get in the film room and watch and figure out why, and apply those lessons for the next time around,” Zimmermann said. 

These two wins mark the first time LBCC has had back-to-back games scoring over 100 in the Zimmermann era.

It is undeniable that the Beaks next game – on the road at Lane on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m., is the most important of the season. Essentially needing to win out, Lane’s 8-6 NWAC South record and sole possession of fourth place in the conference makes this the first (and most crucial step) in a late push for the postseason.

The Roadrunners now hold a 6-7 conference record and are tied for fifth place in the standings with Portland Community College.