Vikings go to 6-0 in NWAACC play

MOSES LAKE — They were in the zone and this time it wasn’t a good thing.

The Big Bend Community College men’s basketball team faced off against a zone defense on Wednesday night and while trying to run their offense against it, found itself at times looking quite uncomfortable against Columbia Basin College

However, a late spurt blessed by some timely defensive stops and missed free throws by the visiting Hawks, was enough to push the host Vikings to a 71-68 win and to their seventh straight vctory.

Big Bend (11-3, 6-0 in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges East Division) came into the contest ranked No. 4 in the NWAACC’s latest poll after being unranked the previous week.

“In five of our six wins we have been down at least eight points at some point in the game,” Big Bend coach Mark Poth said. “We’ve had our fair share of comebacks but this game shows us things we need to work on still.”

One of those areas is how to compete more proficiently against a zone defense.

The Vikings jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the first four-plus minutes of the game against the Hawks’ man defense before they finally settled into the zone.

“What really hurt us is that we jumped out and were playing really well,” Poth said. “And then we had a combination of poor shooting and not taking care of the basketball. We weren’t hitting the boards and that’s why we were down. We haven’t seen a lot of zone and we aren’t a real zone defense team. So it was good for us to go 35-40 minutes against a zone and get better experience against it.”

In the first half, Big Bend shot 36 percent from the field, including only a three-for-16 performance from beyond the arc, while committing 13 turnovers.

The Hawks (6-12, 3-3) shot 52 percent from the field and outrebounded Big Bend 22-14 during the game’s first 20 minutes.

Then after the intermission, Big Bend started cooking as they rolled back into the lead, albeit for a short time.

“We were getting some stops and hit some shots,” Poth said. “We got some turnovers for baskets but then we went cold again, they hit three threes in a row and then we’re down eight again.”

Enter the foul on Hawk guard Jordan Poynor.

Poynor, who ended up with a game high 19 points, was fouled on a three-point attempt with a little over 11 minutes left in the game and the Hawks up 53-45.

He proceeded to miss all three free throws and the momentum pendulum began its permanent shift back in the Vikings’ direction.

“I think if you go from eight to 11 up now you’re in double digits,” Poth said. “I don’t think it boosted us but it might have affected them.”

Columbia Basin College would then go to a spread out, four-corners offense, to alleviate some of the Vikings’ suffocating on-ball pressure, but Big Bend would overcome the adjustment and create some game-changing turnovers.

“We got some stops and in the second half we were able to turn the tables on the boards and outrebounded them,” Poth said. “Then we hit some free throws down the stretch. It was a good win because we could have folded up the tents.”

Big Bend finished the game on a 26-15 run sparked by a 25-13 rebounding margin, and 50 percent shooting from both the field and at the three-point line.

Dominick Brumfield led the Vikings with 16 points and 17 rebounds, while Michael Hattar popped in 14 points.

Alan Marsh’s 12 points and William Winn’s 10 points rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Vikings.

Next, Big Bend takes it’s East Division leaders’ show to Walla Walla Community College on Saturday.

 Game time is set for a 6 p.m. start to the tilt with the host and East Division-rival  Warriors (11-5, 3-3).