Men’s Basketball wins close in Roseburg

The Mt. Hood men’s basketball team escaped Roseburg Saturday with a win over Umpqua Community College 73-70. The Saints (15-5 overall, 4-3 South region) dominated in the paint against the undersized Riverhawks (5-14, 1-6).

Sophomore center Mac Johnson scored 31 points, with nine of them coming from the free throw line, and added 11 rebounds. Sophomores Thomas Simien and Landon Rushton added 10 and nine respectively.

“We rebounded well and did a good job inside the paint. But they (Umpqua) did a good job creating off the dribble. We just need to work on avoiding our own turnovers,” said Geoff Gibor, Saints head coach, pointing out some necessary improvements.

Mt. Hood outscored Umpqua in the first half 36-32, shooting 50 percent (15-30) compared to the Riverhawks’ 35 percent (12-34) from the field. Umpqua fought back in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as the Saints held on for the win.

“We should be able to shoot 50 percent (from the field) every game,” said Gibor.

The Riverhawks scored 21 of their 70 points from beyond the three-point line, making 7 out of 22. Mt. Hood attempted only seven the entire game, and hit one, which came from Rushton.

The Saints continue to struggle with turnovers, which have affected them in previous games. Gibor said tempo is important.

“We move too fast at times… but we also can move too slowly,” he said. He also believes the Saints guards need to be more aggressive.

“We’re open to trying different things with our system. We’re going to work on more full court pressure defense and have a more up-tempo offense,” he said.

Umpqua forced 16 Mt. Hood turnovers, compared to the Riverhawks’ seven. Umpqua scored 13 points from Mt. Hood’s mistakes. But, with the Saints’ height advantage, they were able to out-rebound Umpqua, 47 to 28.

This Saturday, the team heads to Coos Bay, for a 4 p.m. game against Southwestern Oregon Community College (16-5, 5-2). The Lakers are tied for first in the South region with Chemeketa and Portland.

The two teams played in Gresham on Jan. 4, with the Saints losing a nail-biter, 81-80.

“They (SWOCC guards) attack the basketball well. They are quick and are aggressive with their ball fakes,” said Gibor.

In their previous game, Mt. Hood had four players score in double figures and shot better than SWOCC, but it wasn’t enough. Turnovers were a big deal: The Lakers scored 26 points off 22 Saints turnovers, compared to Mt. Hood scoring seven points off SWOCC’s nine turnovers.

Currently, the Saints are tied for fourth in the division with Lane and Clackamas, at 4-3. Only the top four teams advance to the NWAACC playoffs, based on division games only, so the race is tight.

On Wednesday, Mt. Hood will host defending NWAACC champion Chemeketa (9-10, 5-2) at 7:30 p.m.

The two teams met on Jan. 8 in Salem, with Chemeketa winning in overtime 87-83.