The Clackamas print., November 21, 2018, Page 6, Image 6

Men’s basketball returns in style
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JACOB THOMPSON
SPORTS EDITOR @SPORTSEDTHOMPS
The C lackam as C om m u n ity C o lle g e ’ s m en ’ s
basketball team opened the season Nov. 16 and
find them selves with a 2-0 record after defeating
Pacific U n iversity ’ s JV 101-70 on Nov. 16 and
Multnomah U niversity JV 106-73 on Nov. 17.
The Cougars have a lot of new faces this season,
just returning four players from the 2017-18 squad
that made it to the NWAC playoffs.
“ I lik e th e group o f k id s ,” head coach C lif
Wegner said during practice on Nov. 15. “ I think
the chem istry is good.,! think the skill level is
good. W e’ re very inexperienced and very young,
a lot of new faces. It’ ll take a w h ile to learn,
adapt, acclim ate and adjust, but I think by the
tim e league com es around in January w e ’ ll be
com petitive with most the top NWAC team s.”
The Cougars added a lot o f homegrown talent
th is o ffsea so n w ith eigh t o f the 10 fresh m en
com ing from Oregon. Freshm an guard Robert
Ford helped Jefferson High School to b a ck -to -
back state finals appearances, winning it all in
2017. Redshirt freshm an post Matt O’ Brien was
a part of the Clackam as HS team that was beat
by Jefferson in the 2017 Finals 67-70.
Now on the sam e team , O’ Brien and Ford
helped the Cougars dom inate in their opening
game versus Pacific. Ford was red hot to sta rt
the co n test, sh o o tin g 6 -7 from the field and
3-3 from beyond the th ree-point arc in the first
half. O’ Brien added 6 points of his own with an
exclamation point coming when h e threw down a
ferocious dunk over Pacific defenders. Sophomore
Adam Gehrig led Clackamas in scoring in the first
half w ith 17 and Clackamas went into halftim e
leading Pacific 55-33.
“ I think w e’ fè going to have, a good season ,”
O ’ B rien said. “ We cam e out stro n g tod ay,
o bvio u sly i t ’ s not a league, opponen t, but we
came out strong, we played w ell together and
finished a good w in .”
The second h a lf w as m ore of th e sam e as
Clackam as continued their dom inance. Gehrig
finished the night with 30 points, Ford stayed
hot fin ish in g w ith 23- points on 8-9 shooting
from the field and was perfect from downtown
w ith going 5-5. Ford d id n ’ t just look to score
though as he led the Cougars with 16 rebounds,
and recorded nine assists, falling one short of
a triple-double. Wegner said h e ’ d never seen a
point guard rebound like that before.
“ I just like to help my team w in ,” Ford said. “ I
just got a little sparkle for the ball or something,
I just like playing.”
Currently Ford leads the en tire NWAC in total
rebounds with 25, averaging 12.5 rebounds per
game.
C lackam as’ dom inance carried over to their
second game of the weekend versus Multnomah.
Putting up 102 shots, the Cougars cruised to a
106-73 victory. Led by freshm an forward Tariq
Harris and Ger-hig’ s 19 points a piece. Freshman
post Mathias Nchekawube added 18 points and
10 rebounds to record his second double-double
of the year a fter h is 10 po in ts, l i rebounds
performance against Pacific. Ford also recorded
his second double-double with a 13 points and
13 assists.
“ It fe e ls re a lly good to be b a c k ,” G ehrig
said. “ New team , everyone’ s better i t ’ s great.
Chem istry’ s already there, it feels like w e’ re in
m id-season fo rm .”
The Cougars will travel to Lakewood, Washington
Friday to take on Bellevue College in the Pierce
Co 1 lege Tournament at 6 p . m ,
L«_
Redshirt freshman Matt O’Brien finishes a layup in a
sea of Pacific defenders.
Sophomore Adam Gerhig drills a three-pointer during the Cougars 101-70 win over Pacific on Nov. T6.
Clackamas Print
theclackam asprint.com
November 21,2018