After a hectic stretch of games over the last few weeks, the Linn-Benton men’s basketball team has only three games remaining on the schedule.
Since Jan. 29. the Roadrunners have played six conference matchups, with road games against Portland and Lane and home matchups against Southwestern Oregon, Mt. Hood, Clackamas, and Umpqua.
The team went 3-3 through this stretch, earning wins against Lane on Feb. 5, Mt. Hood on Feb. 8, and Umpqua on Feb. 19 while losing to Portland, Mt. Hood, and Clackamas. The results left the Roadrunners with an overall record of 11-15 and a conference record of 6-7 before the team’s next match against Chemeketa.
On Jan. 29, against Southwestern Oregon, the Roadrunners had too much to handle against one of the NWAC’s strongest teams. Early in the game, Linn-Benton shocked Southwestern by racing out to a 12-4 lead through the first five minutes. After the Lakers found parity, the Roadrunners went on another run late in the first half to take a 31-24 lead.
With only a minute and a half remaining in the first, Southwestern strung together a 10-3 run to close out the half to only trail Linn-Benton 34-31 at the break.
“A lot of times, it’s a make-or-miss game,” said Linn-Benton’s Eli Lerman, “first half, our offense was flowing a bit more, second half, our shots weren’t falling.”
After holding onto the lead for the first seven minutes of the second half, the Roadrunner’s inefficiency on offense proved to be the catalyst to their downfall. Leading 48-47 with a little over 13 minutes left, Linn-Benton was outscored 33-13 to finish the match.
The 80-61 loss became defined by the discrepancy in the Roadrunner’s shooting and defense between the first and the second half. The Roadrunners took six fewer shots than they had in the first half while allowing the Lakers to improve their shooting percentage from 36% in the first half to 66% in the second.
On the statistical side, Lerman led the team with 22 points and 3 assists, while Liam Spencer gathered 4 steals.
“As a group, we just gotta stay together and talk things through,” said Lerman, “it’s a tough stretch of the year, but we’ll get through it.”
On Feb. 1, the Roadrunners encountered more trouble when they traveled to take on Portland at their place. After taking down the Panthers 87-85 earlier in the season in a thrilling overtime contest, the Roadrunners knew they would face a side set on revenge.
The hosts would comfortably get their revenge, dismantling the Roadrunners 49-29 in the first half before cruising to an 88-55 win.
However, Linn-Benton quickly overturned their bad fortunes by picking up a vital road win against Lane just a few days later. After Linn-Benton trailed by as many as eight in the first half, the Roadrunners battled back to within two at halftime. Outscoring Lane 48-43 in the second half, the Roadrunners earned a hard-fought 89-86 victory and avenged their previous loss at home to the Titans.
The Roadrunners would head home for their next match, where they would capitalize on their success against Lane by picking up a win against Mt. Hood.
Linn-Benton was clinical on all cylinders, outrebounding Mt. Hood 44-27 and outshooting the St. Bernards 55% to 42% from the field. The Roadrunner’s efficient display led to them outscoring the St. Bernards 47-42 in the first half and then 34-31 in the second half to earn a deserved 81-73 win.
After facing Mt. Hood, the Roadrunners headed into their next matchup against a resilient Clackamas team. Despite trailing 21-33 with only five minutes left in the first half, Linn-Benton strung together a 12-1 run to head into the break down two. However, the Cougars would come out of the break reinvigorated, outscoring the Roadrunners 45-35 in the second half to eventually win 79-67.
The result against Clackamas marked the seventh time this season that Linn-Benton had lost a close matchup by 12 points or less.
“We had our moments where we fought back,” said Cedric Barnes, “I think as a team, we just need to get better on the mental side so that we don’t have these ups and downs.”
A better mentality proved the difference in the Roadrunner’s next match. Facing an impressive Umpqua side with an overall record of 20-5, Linn-Benton put together one of their best performances of the year to shock the Riverhawks.
Led by a remarkable 37-point performance by Spencer and an 18-point, 10 rebound, double-double by Cade Smith, the Roadrunners picked up a satisfying 83-74 win over Umpqua.
Despite the result, the Roadrunners will still need a few unlikely things to happen for the team to make the playoffs. Even with this in mind, players on the team are set on taking things one game at a time and finishing the season strong.
“Right now, we’re just trying to stay positive; we’re just focused on the next game, and the rest will come.” said Barnes
For their next match, Linn-Benton hosts their final home game of the year against Chemeketa tonight at 4 p.m. Before the game, there will be a ceremony celebrating the team’s sophomores.
