It’s been a weird 10 days for Clark College’s basketball teams, and that’s putting it lightly.
Recent news out of the Penguins’ athletic department the past week has been game postponements, rather than results.
Blame mother nature.
Saturday at the O’Connell Sports Complex, though, was a game day — the first time Clark’s women’s and men’s teams has played since its region opener Jan. 4.
And the Penguins swept their doubleheader to earn their first NWAC South Region victories. Playing their second straight overtime game, the Clark women topped Southwestern Oregon, 80-77, while the Clark men beat SWOC, 84-80.
And the pair of victories came with very little preparation.
This week’s snowfall cancelled classes Wednesday and Thursday, meaning no practices those two days. Wednesday was supposed to be road contest versus Portland CC, but snow in the region led to Clark’s second postponed opponent for the third time in five days.
Penguins forward Emily Peters, a Prairie High graduate who had a team-best 19 points Saturday, was honest about her team’s lackluster first half against the Lakers — 15 first-half points — and her team tried to use the lack of practice time as an excuse.
“Coach said, ‘OK, no more excuses,’ ” she said.
The Penguins (4-9 overall, 1-1 NWAC South) shot a sizzling 60.6 percent (20 of 33) in the second half, and had four of their 12 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. They led by as many as eight at 55-47 when Union High grad Mailia Aguigui (17 points) drained a left-corner 3 with 5:21 left in the fourth quarter.
But Southwestern Oregon (7-9, 1-3), paced by a double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds by forward Lose Fonua, cut the Clark lead to two at 64-62 inside a minute left.
Peters scored five of her team’s 16 points in overtime, including a 3-pointer on the opening possession to take the lead for good. She finished a team-best 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
After losses in six of nine games by six or fewer points, the Penguins got on the right side of a game Saturday, and Peters hopes this is the start of Clark getting on the right path.
“We were tired of losing,” she said. “… We got a little too comfortable in the past. We’re just going to stay hungry. We like this feeling of winning, and we’re going to keep at it. We like this feeling that we can keep a lead and we’re not going to back down.”
MEN: Clark 84, Southwestern Oregon 80 — Luke Osborn’s 22 points was one of three Penguins to score in double figures to help Clark snap its two-game losing skid.
With a lack of preparation for the Lakers because of the weather, the Penguins also got a surprise when SWOC played a zone defense. They saw man on film.
That hardly showed with a quick 13-2 lead.
“We weren’t prepared for it,” said Osborn, who finished 9 of 17 shooting, “but we got the job done.”
Ty Cleland added 18 points and Jordan Berni chipped in 14, as the Penguins shot 49.3 percent from the field, including hitting 11 of 26 on 3s.
Osborn’s 3-point play with 7 minutes, 7 seconds left in the second half stretched Clark’s (8-4, 1-1) lead to 75-65. While it never trailed after the 16-minute mark, SWOC (11-6, 2-2) got as close as 81-80 (with 57.8 second to play).
Clark plays its make-up doubleheader with Lane on Monday. Tip-off is 2 p.m. (women) and 4 p.m. (men) at the O’Connell Sports Center.
