Clark falls in title game of holiday tournament

The Clark College men’s basketball team lost to visiting Snow College (Utah) 77-59 in the championship game of the Clark Holiday Invitational on Thursday night at the O’Connell Center.

“They were able to hit their shots when we weren’t,” Clark guard Derek Owens said. “After winning so many games in a row you feel like you can’t lose at times, but a loss at this point isn’t bad at all. It can only make us stronger”

The Penguins were out-rebounded 47-29.

“It was tough down in the boards tonight,” Clark center Blake Bowen said. “This team is very physical, but on the other hand we will be able to learn from this.”

Clark was able to maintain a lead over the Badgers during the first minutes of the game.

“We haven’t played a lot of teams that matched up well with us,” Clark head coach Mike Arnold said. “This team was able to consistently match our moves as well as bring a great physical presence throughout the whole game.”

Bowen, a Skyview High grad, and Owens lead the Penguins scoring with 15 points a piece. Lucas Swanson, a Mountain View grad, added 14 points off the bench.

Clark had six of its 10 players score in this game while Snow College had 10 of its 11 players get involved in the scoring.

“It was a difficult game on both sides of the court for us tonight,” Arnold said. “But with the way we are playing during this early part of the season I’m really excited for the rest of the year.”

The Penguins head into NWAACC West Division play on Wednesday at South Puget Sound with a 10-1 overall record.

“It’s an exciting time right now,” Bowen said. “We are showing up on other conference team’s radar. We are looking forward to the regular season and get the chance to take it to our rival teams.”

CLARK MEN’S HOLIDAY INVITATIONAL

Thursday’s games

Championship

Snow College 77, Clark 59

Third place

Seattle 88, Centralia 67

Fourth place

Chemeketa 88, Olympic 77

SNOW COLLEGE 77, CLARK 59

SNOW COLLEGE — Vega 4-9 5-8 13, Bamba 8-16 2-4 20, Wilkins 6-9 1-1 16, Sane 1-4 2-4 4, Stafford 3-12 0-0 7, Mayer 0-0 0-0 0, Hoopes 1-2 0-0 2, Crosbie 0-1 1-2 1, Grungier 2-4 2-2 6, Van Brocklin 2-4 0-0 4, Meyers 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 29-64 13-21 77.

CLARK — Potts 0-0 0-0 0, Bragg 0-5 0-0 0, Owens 5-8 3-4 15, Giles 3-7 2-2 8, Bowen 6-13 3-4 15, Hamler 0-2 0-2 0, Swanson 7-14 0-0 14, Anderson 2-7 0-0 5, Rosser 0-1 0-0 0, Kiser 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 23-59 10-14 59.

Halftime — Snow College 46-31.