By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

OREGON CITY, Ore.—It was quiet the different game Sunday against Grays Harbor then Friday’s game against the JV squad from Multnomah University.

Fouls and turnovers slowed the Clackamas Community College Men’s basketball team down a bit, but the result was the same.

A victory in the score form of 108-64 as the Cougars improve to 2-0 on the season.

“The first half I wasn’t pleased,” said CCC Head Coach Clif Wegner. “I thought we came out kind of flat.  We took a timeout and we told them to turn up the energy and they responded to that and we had a great run to close the half.

“Second half I thought we didn’t play bad, but we fouled way too much and we gave them way too many free-throws.  Early season stuff that you focus on, turnover less, don’t foul too much.  Make it tougher on them.”

In the opening half, several Cougar turnovers allowed the Chokers to have a brief 5-2 lead and had the game tied at nine at the 15:56 mark.

Then Joey Baldwin came into the game.

Between when Baldwin came in at the 15 minute mark and the 14:30 marker, the sophomore captain gave CCC a 14-9 lead behind a mid-range shot and a three-pointer.

“As a captain, as a leader they expect that,” said Baldwin about his contribution early.“I’ll come out and do my thing.  (I) just got to do my thing, just go all out.”

As the Cougs got their ball handling back in order, fouls became an issue.

14 first half fouls inhibit the Clackamas offense, but did not stop it entirely as they slowly increased their lead.

Baldwin explained the first half as a lost of focus and expecting an easy game.

“I think we just lost focus,” said Baldwin.  “We came into the game not focused expecting to blow them out and I think we were unfocused.”

Behind three straight three-pointers in the closing moments of the half Brayden Massey exploded onto the scene.

With his team up 53-27 entering the second half, Massey made three of four three-point attempts within the first three minutes of the second half as the Cougars had a 66-35 lead with 14:54 left in the game.

Massey thanked his teammates that set him up for his 7-for-11 performance Sunday afternoon as he finished with a team high 28 points.

“I just have to give it up to my teammates,” he said.  “They found me, they got me going in the open spots.  They just found me when I was open and I knocked down the shots.

“So I have to give it up to the players that were passing me the ball and finding me open.”

Clackamas settled in for the most part around 15 fouls in the second half, their offense was able to score 55 in the second stanza.

“We got comfortable and started playing our game, passing and we got into a flow,” said Baldwin. “The fouls definitely slowed us down but we got into a flow and that’s how we pulled away.”

With their focus on cutting down fouls and turnovers, Wegner reflects on what went right Sunday.

“We rebounded really well at both ends of the floor,” said Wegner.  “I thought we shot the ball really well, shot 50 at the line, we shot free throws a little better than we have been so that’s a good stat right there.  Those are some good takeaways.”

Next up for the Cougars is the Pierre Tournament on November 27 through the 29 in Bellingham, Washington.

PHOTO GALLERY (PICTURES BY JEREMY MCDONALD)

Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013).  Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81!

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