LB Men’s Basketball Drops NWAC South Opener
The LBCC Men’s Basketball team lost 94-74 against the Mt. Hood Saints on Monday, Jan. 17 in their NWAC South conference opener. This was the first game for the Roadrunners since Dec. 18 due to COVID-19 delays in the NWAC and inclement weather cancellations.
The Roadrunners started the game off strong, trading leads with the Saints and led by six early in the first half when they were up 12-6. Unfortunately, that was the largest lead of the night for LB. With 9:09 left in the half Mt.Hood took a 20-19 lead and never looked back. By halftime Linn-Benton found themselves trailing by 17 with the score being 51-34.
Leading the Roadrunners were a duo of Freshman Ayden Foster and Sophomore Kye Blaser. Combined they totaled 41 of the 74 points LB scored, with Foster having 21 points, six rebounds, two steals and one assist in 30 minutes. Blaser contributed 20 points, four rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes. He also had four of the seven three pointers LB scored in the game and shot 57% from beyond the arc.
In the second half, LB found themselves slipping further behind, trailing by 25 points with 11:15 left in the game. The Roadrunners started forcing turnovers and their shots started falling. They closed the deficit to 14 points after a Blaser three point shot capped off a 12-4 point run by LB. A timeout by Mt.Hood stalled the momentum and the Saints were able to cruise to the final buzzer.
The second half brought better shooting for LB with a 50% field goal percentage and 80% from the free throw line. Compared to 38.7% and 63.5 respectively in the first half. From beyond the arc the Saints out shot the Roadrunners 10-26 (38.5%) compared to LB’s 7-22 (31.8%).
LB did force more turnovers (16) and capitalized with 15 points from them. Mt. Hood forced 13 and scored 13 points from them. Inside the paint, the Saints thoroughly dominated, scoring 54 points including some forceful slam dunks that left the rim rattling. LB scored 36 points in the paint.
Leading the Roadrunners in minutes played was Tyson Parker with 34. He also had five points, three steals and two rebounds. Jace Mills added seven points and four rebounds. Connor Torell had six points and rebounds and one steal. Garrett Workinger also had six points and added three rebounds. Gavin Weisweaver added three points, and a team high six assists and four steals, and two rebounds. Landon Bowman scored three points and added one assist. Toby Stueve also had three points.
The Roadrunners move to 2-6 in the season. They next take on Southwestern Oregon on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at home with tip off scheduled for 7:30pm. The Lakers sit at 8-6 and most recently beat Chemeketa 106-94.
