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Vikings take two wins in Oregon

by Alan Dale<br> Herald Sports Writer
| January 25, 2010 8:00 PM

ONTARIO, Ore. — It took a two-day trip to Oregon for the Big Bend Community College Vikings’ basketball team to scale the mountain, at least temporarily.

The Vikings defeated Treasure Valley Community College 119-103 on Saturday to sweep their trip down south and return home in first place of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) East Division.

“We feel real good about it,” Vikings coach Mark Poth said. “We’ve played Spokane, Yakima, and Treasure Valley who was playing really well. To go 5-0 through these games — with three on the road — we feel real good about the position we’re in. There are definitely areas of needed improvement but we feel like we are on a good track.”

Big Bend (10-3, 5-0) and Treasure Valley (9-6, 3-2) were the number two and one rated scoring offenses in the NWAACC and the numbers showed it.

Both teams shot 60 percent from the field as they went back-and-forth until the Vikings slowly pulled away.

“We just were able to get a few stops that were huge in a game where both teams shot over 50 percent from the 3-point mark,” Poth said. “Both teams like to play up-tempo, run, and full-court press to get the speed up. We just gradually started to pull away from them.”

The Vikings led 60-56 at halftime and were able to pull away with the aid of solid free throw shooting, hitting 84 percent of their charity tosses after shooting normally in the 60-65 percentile throughout the season.

Jeff Ranstrom scored 25 points and nine rebounds while Michael Hattar added 21 points and four assists for Big Bend.

Alan Marsh added 19 points and Maurice Johns and Will Winn each chipped in with 13 points apiece.

Despite the break-neck pace, the Vikings committed only 16 turnovers while dishing out 30 assists on 44 made shots.

Big Bend started the road trip with a resounding 97-67 win at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Ore.

The Vikings led 46-35 at halftime and gradually built the lead against the struggling Timberwolves (2-14, 0-5).

Ranstrom scored 16 points, Hattar had 15 points, and Winn pumped in 11 points. Dominick Brumfield scored 10 points to aid the Vikings victory.

Ranstrom led Big Bend with 10 rebounds.

Despite the win, Big Bend was handcuffed by 42 percent shooting from the field — 32 percent from the three-point line — and 25 turnovers.

“I thought we played a fairly solid game and defensively we were very good,” Poth said.  “Our full court pressure really caused them problems. Our shooting percentage wasn’t very good but we got a lot of points off turnovers and offensive rebounding.”

Big Bend forced 28 Timberwolves’ turnovers.

The Vikings aim for their seventh-straight victory on Wednesday when they host Columbia Basin College (6-11, 3-2) at 8 p.m.

“We have to continue to improve on both sides of the floor,” Poth said. “We need to start playing better on the offensive end and being patient running our sets through.”