Storm escapes hawk nest
In a rollercoaster match-up against the Chemeketa Storm (12-12 8-4 South) the UCC men’s basketball team gave them all they could handle.
The short-handed Riverhawks (5-19 1-11 South) were down early in the contest as Chemeketa would go on an 8-0 run in the first three minutes taking an 11-4 lead. The Storm continued their push before UCC responded with its first-half fight fans have become accustomed to.
Following a UCC time-out with 7:54 remaining in the half, forward Derrick Wattman’s buried a trey that cut the Storm lead to 32-33. Both teams traded baskets before a 25-foot 3-pointer by guard Cole Waddington tied the ball game at 43-43.
Chemeketa took a time-out to slow the Riverhawk run, but UCC was ready in the form of sophomore guard Chris Mock. Mock’s lay-in gave the Riverhawks there first lead of the game at 47-45, followed by a clutch three at the buzzer giving UCC a 50-47 lead going into the half.
The Riverhawks continued the fight into the second-half. Guard Mishima Gray scored and was fouled on back-to-back spinning lay-ins while converting both free-throws. However with 10:27 remaining foul trouble began to catch up to the UCC. Down 61-67, Gray picked up his fourth foul. The Storm responded by stretching their lead to it largest of the game at 74-63.
With 7:07 remaining, Mock’s trey cut the lead to 68-74. The teams traded baskets before Gray score on an amazing up and under reverse lay-in at 72-78. Unfortunately it was the closest the Riverhawks would get. The Storm slowly pulled away on the back of its free-throw shooting handing UCC a hard fought 81-89 setback.
Gray led the Riverhawks with a game-high 23 points, four steals, and three assists. Mock added 17 points while Wattman pitched in 14. Sophomore Torrmall Thomas had four points eight rebounds and a game-high five blocks, while guard Jonathan Bolston had another fine performance off the bench with seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Umpqua (81)- Mishima Gray 8-18 6-8 24, Bolston 2-8 3-4 7, Waddington 3-8 0-0 8, Thomas 2-4 0-0 4, Mock 7-14 0-0 17, Wattman 6-10 0-1 14, Corpening 2-8 1-2 5, Matteo 1-2 1-2 3.
Chemeketa (89)- Dominique Lawrence 9-14 5-7 23, Brazille 5-10 4-6 15, Atkinson 1-3 0-0 3, Christian 1-2 6-11 8, Ackerman 4-10 2-5 10, Vettrus 0-0 0-0 0, Schlegel 3-10 5-8 11, Ferry 0-1 0-0 0, Westfall 2-3 1-2 7, Ewell 4-9 4-4 12. Halftime Score- Umpqua 50-47 3-Point Field Goals- UCC (8-24) (Mock 3-5, Wattman 2-5, Waddington 2-6, Gray 1-5) Chemeketa (4-12) (Brazille 1-4 Atkinson 1-3, Westfall 2-3) Rebounds- UCC- 39 (Bolston 9) Chemeketa- 47 (Lawernce 9) Assists- UCC- 6 (Gray 3) Chemeketa- 1 (Lawernce)