Freshman forward Archie Garrett drives baseline towards the hoop in NWAACC Southern Region matchup at Portland Community College on Jan. 28. (photo by Ryan Kostecka)
According to Lane head coach Bruce Chavka, the men’s basketball team would have to get contributions from everyone in order to win on Jan. 28 in Portland.
“With Tyler (Coleman) out sick with strep throat, we were going to need our entire team to step up tonight,” Chavka said.
All 12 Titans scored and played significant minutes as Lane throttled Portland Community College in a 71-36 victory that more than made up for the absence of the Titans’ leading scorer.
The Titans led from start to finish and used the asset of a deep bench effectively as they outscored Portland 49-0 on points off the bench.
The Titans used a suffocating defensive strategy the entire game that forced the Panthers into 23 turnovers. In return, Lane scored 22 of its 71 points off turnovers.
Lane limited Portland to 31 percent shooting while only allowing three Panther players to score in the entire game.
Taylor Pettiford led the Panthers with a game-high 29 points but only got seven other points from two of his teammates.
The game started out slow with the Titans holding a 12-8 lead at the 10-minute mark in the first half.
“I wasn’t pleased that we started playing the game to their (Portland) level,” Chavka said. “We were able to rectify that, get it situated and roll from there to the win.”
Lane would then use a 12-3 run over the next six minutes to take control of the game at 24-11, a lead they did not relinquish.
A three-point play by freshman Richard Seamster capped a 6-0 run and put the Titans up 30-13 going into the half.
Lane came out hot to start the second half using a 16-3 run to put the game out of reach with 12 minutes left.
Sophomore Darrell Breazell keyed the Titans’ run as he scored four points, grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists and came away with two steals during that time period.
With Lane up 58-30 and five minutes left in the game, freshman Gonzalo Duran scored six points and grabbed three rebounds to lead the Titans on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes.
Freshman Derek Cornell scored two of his team-high 12 points with one minute left, which put the Titans up 71-36 for the final score.
“We came in really well-prepared,” Seamster said. “The team played really well together; it was nice to see.”
For the game, Lane shot 48 percent from the field and out-rebounded the bigger Panther team 30-20.
The Titans return home for a Southern Region game against first-place Mt. Hood at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4.
“It’s a team game and we got a lot of team players, and they all stepped up,” Coleman said. “Now we just got to get ready for the second round of region play.”
