Stowers has 34 to lead Runnin' Vikes past Blue Mountain

PENDLETON, Ore. — DeAngelo Stowers has been a nice stash of cash the Runnin’ Vikes go to for a little something extra when they need it. The 6-foot-1 sophomore from Upland, Calif., was money on Saturday night when it was all hands on deck.

Stowers got the start in place of Blake Dittman, who will miss the next three to four weeks with a stress fracture to his right hand, and poured in a game-high 34 points to lead Big Bend past Blue Mountain Community College 86-73 in NWAC East action.

Stowers was 13-of-22 from the field, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range, and had the hot hand when the Runnin’ Vikes (8-6, 1-1 NWAC East) needed him.

“DeAngelo got out early and hit three of his first four 3s and we just rode the hot hand. He’s a bigger, stronger guard, so when they put little guys on him we can put him in the post and isolate him on the perimeter,” Big Bend coach Mingo Scott said. “The rest of the guys played solid and we just sort of rode his hot hand.”

Stowers has been providing 12 to 14 points coming off the bench, but now it looks like his services will be needed in a larger capacity with Dittman sidelined. Dittman, the 6-4 shooting guard out of Boise, Idaho, suffered a stress fracture in the loss to Wenatchee Valley last week at home.

“Dittman played through the game on adrenaline, ended up playing the rest of the game with a broken arm. But in the morning he called me and said he couldn’t move his arm,” Scott said. “He’s not a guy we want to lose, but it looks like he’ll be out half of the league schedule.”

The Runnin’ Vikes shot 52 percent from the field (33-63) and got the 3-point game back to 41.2 percent (14-32), which is the formula for success. They dropped below 26 percent from beyond the arc in their loss to Wenatchee Valley in the NWAC East opener. But they shot the ball much better from the perimeter on Friday to even the conference record to 1-1.

“This gives us a chance to get back on the top side of the league and we needed to have this one against Blue Mountain,” Scott said. “We’re starting five freshmen right now, so if we can stay close to .500 until Blake comes back I’d be happy with that. We’ll make a strong second half press.”

Big Bend’s defense continued to produce. The Runnin’ Vikes scored 24 points off the turnover and finished with 12 assists and five second-chance points against the Timberwolves (3-9, 0-2 NWAC East).

Starters Mauricio Smith (14), Koby Huerta (13) and Christopher Hawkins (10) all ended in double figures for the Runnin’ Vikes, who are at Spokane on Wednesday and host Walla Walla on Saturday.

Big Bend 45 41 - 86

Blue Mountain 38 35 - 73

Big Bend - Mauricio Smith 14, Koby Huerta 13, Christopher Hawkins 10, DeAngelo Stowers 34, Miles Brown 7, Parker Christensen 7, Collin Ahmann 5. Totals: 33-63 6-6 86

Blue Mountain - Linton McAllister 7, Anthony Landeros 12, Dedr Seme 15, Elias Kaden 6, Jeremiah Hillard 4, Courage Lonebear 4, Jali Massey 5, Jordan Moran 18, Chance Flores 2. Totals: 32-62 3-5 73