Alumni push Big Bend to the limit

Former Runnin' Viking players force overtime

ODESSA — It was just supposed to be a fun memorial game.

Instead, Big Bend got pushed against the ropes by a bunch of former basketball players. On Tuesday at the Ryan Floch Memorial basketball game, the Runnin' Vikings pulled off an 83-79 win in overtime over former Big Bend and Odessa High School basketball players.

It also gave head coach Mark Poth a few concerns.

"We just didn't play really well," Poth said.

"I give them a lot of credit, they should have won the game because they outworked us and outplayed us," he added. "They played really well and I am a little disappointed that we couldn't come out here and have a little better performance."

Big Bend built an 18-point lead over the Alumni team, but it didn't seem enough.

"They are a good group of kids and they showed why they won a lot of games in the past," Poth said.

The Runnin' Vikings came into the game tied for second in the Eastern Region with the idea of putting up a win while rotating the bench like a rotisserie chicken.

They did both, but not in the same fashion Big Bend is used to. The Runnin' Vikings lead the Eastern Region in scoring (90.8) and were held to 83 points in the game.

Reece Jenkins led the Alumni with 26 points, including 6 of 12 shooting from behind the arc. David Martin had a double-double for the Alumni with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

For Big Bend, Brandon Nielsen was one of three Runnin' Vikings who had double-doubles with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Jeff Coffman had 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Antonio Walker came up shy of a double-double with seven points and 11 rebounds.

Jenkins, a former Big Bend player, opened the game with a 3-pointer, then watched the Runnin' Vikings take over the game.

Pendleton hit a 3 over Josh Whitman for the first Big Bend lead of the game and Nielsen hit back-to-back 3's, forcing the Alumni into a timeout trailing 17-9 with 12:47 left in the first half.

Travis Iverson hit back-to-back shots as part lf an 18-0 run by Big Bend before Robb Soliday hit the Alumni's first basket in six minutes.

Nielsen and Soliday later exchanged 3-pointers, but Scott Erikson scored three of the final Alumni points of the half to close Big Bend's lead to 44-30.

The Alumni held the Runnin' Vikings scoreless through the first 5:02 of the second half, while pulling off a 11-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 44-41 with 15:18 left in the second half.

Scott Kramer, who only played 10:40 in the game, made use of his time with back-to-back 3-pointers that cut the lead to 56-54.

Walker gave the Runnin' Vikings a 75-71 lead with 1:37 to play in the game, but Jenkins scored a quick basket, then forced a turnover that resulted in a basket from Erikson to tie the game at 75-75.

Erikson put up a shot for the win for the Alumni that bounced off the front of the rim and sent the game into overtime.

Jenkins missed two free throws that would have given the Alumni the lead, followed by six straight points by Big Bend to put the game away 83-79.

"Hopefully we can get focused and come back and have a great game against Yakima on Saturday," Poth said.