Men’s basketball starts fresh against SWOCC

Last Saturday, the Saints men basketball team fell in a close (76-70) battle to Blue Mountain CC. Mt. Hood found itself down 41-33 at the half, but made a valiant effort in the second half, outscoring the Timberwolves 37-35 only to lose by the slim margin of six points.

Head coach Geoff Gibor gave his thoughts on the narrow loss to Blue Mountain: “After beating Blue Mountain by 19 (on Dec. 18), we knew they would be ready for us, coming to their place. We dug a little hole early, but continued to battle back.”

Gibor continued, ”We were down as much as 15 and with 2:45 left fought back to get down (to) 1. We made a couple mistakes and they capitalized on them. We let a good opportunity slip away, but I definitely think we are learning from those games.”

Saints freshman guard Jamal Muhammad led the team in scoring 23 points. Freshman Kody Kennedy provided 18 points for the Saints on impressive 8-for-9 shooting. Sophomore Oleg Marandyuk added a double-double for the Saints, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

The loss dropped the Saints season record to 3-8 (including three straight losses) and was the Saints’ final preseason game of the year.

Gibor discussed the team’s progress through the first 11 games.

“I think that our 3-8 record is not indicative of how good this team is. We have played an extremely difficult schedule with games on the road against the (No. 9 and No. 2) nationally ranked NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) teams. We have played some perennial powerhouse NWAC teams as well,” he said.

“We have definitely improved and are continuing to do so everyday… We have not been making the same mistakes from game to game which shows that we are learning from our experiences,” he said.

Muhammad has been a big part of Mt. Hood’s offense, leading the Saints with an average of 19.7 points per game including an impressive 37-point performance against Pierce College on Dec. 19.

Reflecting on his performance in preseason play, Muhammad discussed the importance of improving. “I think I’ve been playing good,” he said. “There is always something to improve on; I think the most I need to work on is setting my teammates up to get open and staying positive so when things go wrong we don’t get down on each other.”

Muhammad also discussed the clean slate that is league play.

“Now it’s league, so for all team’s it’s 0-0. We had a tough preseason and came a long way and changed the things that we had to change to become a better team,” he said. “So, not only mine, but my team’s mindset is to take in all the stuff that we learned and put it on the court and start the season 1-0.”

Mt. Hood opens up league play Saturday against the 3-10 SWOCC Lakers (Southwestern Oregon CC) in Coos Bay. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

Gibor believes the team matches up well.

“SWOCC plays fast. They are trying to attack in transition,” he said. “We have a bigger lineup and if our transition defense can step up and take away their easy baskets, we should be able to put ourselves in a position to win.”

Gibor continued, “We must win the battle of the boards and keep them off the foul line while making them play defense. We cannot settle for quick shots. They are very aggressive offensively, which means we will need to be disciplined on defense.

“Ultimately, we have to play harder and smarter than they do.”