Vikings pull off big home win

MOSES LAKE - On Wednesday night the Big Bend Vikings basketball team played host to a contest between two of the top teams in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) at the Peter DeVries Activity Center.

The second-ranked Vikings, also were looking for a little bit of revenge against the fourth-ranked College of Spokane Sasquatch.

After dropping their NWAACC East opener in Spokane last month, the Vikings went on a six-game tear to take the division lead.

Now make that a lucky seven.

Behind the 55 combined points of Ben Olayinka and Hayes Garrity, the Vikings would pull out a pivotal 86-77 win over the Sasquatch to build a two-game lead with six games to play.

"This was a huge win for us," Big Bend head coach Mark Poth said. "Our players battled all night long and I was very pleased with the execution on both ends of the court.  We knew we were going to have to play a solid game,"

Both teams went neck-and-neck in the first half as Big Bend (15-4, 7-1) would hold onto a slim 35-34 lead at the intermission.

But a 51-point second half explosion was enough to spur on the Vikings to the win as Olayinka finished with 28 points along with 15 rebounds while Garrity scored 27 points grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists.

Overall, the Vikings, which got 16 points from Blake Skidmore, shot 49 percent from the field despite hitting only 3-of-14 attempts from beyond the arc.

They also forced Spokane (13-7, 5-3) into 20 turnovers and outrebounded the Sasquatch 43-30.

That rebounding total helped Big Bend to a 22-6 advantage in second chance points as they collected 19 offensive boards.

On Saturday, the Vikings travel to play a tough Yakima Valley CC (11-8, 4-4) squad.

Regardless, Big Bend has found a way to stay atop of the East despite battling a plethora of injuries and now seeing them slowly get their roster back to health.

"We are excited to be ranked second in the NWAACC," Poth said. "But we know we need to continue to improve."