Heading south to Western Oregon is one of my favorite trips of the year. For the last two years after shoot around, before the game in Monmouth, the team and I stop in my hometown of Castle Rock to eat our pregame meal. On the menu this year was a tasty pulled pork sandwich, grilled halibut, salad, along with some cookies and brownies for dessert. Needless to say the meal was very fulfilling and the team had a great time.
Once we departed my house it was another couple of hours until we got to the gym. For the first part of the bus ride, most of the guys in the shuttle I was in took a nap. I’m not very good at sleeping on buses or anything, so I just played some games on my phone and enjoyed the drive south. Once the guys awoke from their snooze we enjoyed a few minutes recalling funny events that have happened within the team over the last couple of years. Then, before I knew it we were driving down the road towards the gym. From then on it was time to get ready for the game and work on getting a win.
Going into the game, the team was very focused because we had already beaten the Wolves earlier in the year at home and we wanted to come away with a sweep. Our warm-ups were solid, focused, and crisp. We started the game with as much energy as I have seen us play with in a while which was positive because that was one of the aspects we had been working on all week in practice.
Brady Bomber opened the game with a three-pointer and Rei Jensen followed a few possessions later with a dunk that really set the tone. Throughout the first half the game was back and forth until Western Oregon made a mini run late in the half to put them up by six. With the clock running down Brady hit another three to put us down only three points heading into the break.
Coming back to the floor in the second half we had no doubt that we could come out of this game with a win. The momentum Western Oregon used late in the first half carried over into the second half and they jumped out early. The Wolves got their lead up to 17 at one point after a mid-range jumper in the lane. Even though we were down, I never doubted we wouldn’t be able to make a comeback.
A couple defensive stops and baskets put us down 11 with a little under two minutes to go. We picked up the pressure defensively and forced them into a few turnovers cutting the lead down to four with six seconds to go. Eric Taylor stole the inbounds pass up near half court and dribbled up for a three in hopes of getting fouled, but sadly the shot rimmed out and the wolves prevailed 72-68.
With two more big GNAC games this week, the focus will definitely be to build off some of the good things we did at Western Oregon and learn from our mistakes. This Thursday we play Alaska Anchorage, followed by Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday. Throughout practice this week we will definitely be trying to sharpen up on a few concepts in order to prepare for both those games. A couple weeks ago we travelled up to Alaska and came away empty handed with a sour taste in our mouths. Without a doubt, we are looking to come back strong and have a good week to get back on the right track.
Check out my blog later in the week for more insights as we prepare for our games.
#Saintsalive
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