No more for Big Bend

Southwestern Oregon final dagger in Runnin' Vikings' season

KENNEWICK — It wasn't the Big Bend basketball team most people are used to seeing.

The poor shooting or inability to rebound, the Runnin' Vikings just weren't present against Southwestern Oregon. The end result was an early elimination from the NWAACC tournament with a 79-68 loss to the Lakers on Friday at the Three Rivers Coliseum.

Brandon Nielsen seemed to be the only Big Bend player able to create success against Southwestern Oregon, but even he shot 5-of-16 from the field and 3-of-11 from behind the arc. Yet, after only getting 1:07 rest in two full games, he couldn't have been expected to be the only driving force for the Runnin' Vikings.

"They have nothing to be ashamed of," said Mark Poth, head coach for Big Bend at the end of the game. "When you don't shoot that well, everything else looks kind of worse."

It wasn't that Southwestern outplayed the Runnin' Vikings, it's just that Big Bend couldn't make a basket.

Kelly Rawlings had the first Big Bend point in the game after going 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. Then Oregon added two straight baskets before Nielsen came up with a 3-pointer to trail the Lakers 5-4.

Brandon Thompson followed with five straight points and Matt Pizzola had four as Southwestern Oregon soon led 14-4 with 13:35 remaining in the first half.

Following a Runnin' Vikings timeout, Bryce and Chris Pendleton hit a couple 3-pointers to cut the lead to 16-12 and Big Bend later had a chance to tie the game, but Antonio Walker and Nielsen combined for 1-for-4 from the free-throw line to trail the Lakers 20-17 with 5:03 left in the first half.

By halftime, Southwestern lead Big Bend 33-29 with the Runnin' Vikings on a 9-4 run in the final minutes.

The second half had a bright spot for Big Bend when Bryce Pendleton put the Runnin' Vikings ahead for the first time in the game with a short jumper from the right wing with 8:03 left. Oregon's Matt Espinoza hit two free throws to regain the lead, but Bryce Pendleton hit a crucial 3-pointer to put the Runnin' Vikings up 55-53.

The Lakers answered with 6-0 run off of a Jerrod Dastrup basket and free-throw and a Pizzola 3-pointer to put Oregon on top 59-55. A short time later, the Lakers extended the lead to 65-59, when Nielsen converted a 3-pointer off a Chris Pendleton steal to trail Oregon 65-62 with 2:26 left.

From there, Espinoza hit a 3-pointer and the Lakers went 6-for-10 from the line and held the Runnin' Vikings scoreless to finish the game with a 79-68 win.

"They hit some key 3's that really put the game away," Poth said.

For the tournament, the Runnin' Vikings averaged 69.5 points per game on 36 percent shooting, including 28.5 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line.

"Tonight our shooting was our Achilles and last night was too many turnovers," Poth added.