The Titans defense held SWOCC to 69 points and got offense from unexpected players in their 93-69 win at home.
How it happened: The game was tied at 16 with 11:04 remaining in the 1st half, but a Cody Mathis dunk sparked a 9-0 Titans run to the 8:04 mark. SWOCC cut their deficit to six with 3:39 remaining after a pair of free throws, but a 9-0 response to the 1:35 mark gave the Titans a 15-point lead. Lezjon Bonds made a three with 15 seconds remaining to give the Titans a 14-point halftime lead, 44-30.
The Titans shot 47.5 percent despite a 4-18 mark from three and eight turnovers; they held SWOCC to 31.4 percent shooting. Rodney Hounshell had 11 points; Lezjon Bonds had 10 points on 4-6 shooting off the bench.
A pair of Lucas Wilson dunks started a 10-3 Titan run to open the 2nd half. The Titans had their largest lead of the game at 29, 84-55, with 6:22 remaining after Gabe Sorber made a pair of free throws. Lezjon Bonds extended that lead to 33 with 5:34 remaining. SWOCC went on a small run in the final few minutes to make the game a little closer, but the Titans won by 24, 93-69.
The Titans shooting dropped a bit to 46.2 percent, but their three-point shooting was much better a 41.2 percent (7-17) and they out-rebounded SWOCC by nine. SWOCC shot 37.5 percent and made only 4-13 threes. Will Graves had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench; Cody Mathis had six points and 10 rebounds and overall 32 of the Titans 49 points came from the bench.
What/who stood out: 93 points is the first time in three games over 90 after six-straight such games…eight made free throws and nine attempted free throws are season-lows…11 made threes in the first time in three games reaching 10 made after six of seven such games…49 rebounds is a season-high vs an NWAC opponent (40 three times was previous high)…15 turnovers is the most in six games…14 fouls is the fourth-straight sub-20 foul game; 11 of previous 12 were 20 plus.
Cody Mathis had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and fourth in-a-row…Lucas Wilson's 10 points and 10 rebounds is his sixth double-double and fourth in five games….Tarik Cool's four points was a season-low and he has failed to reach double-figures in back-to-back games and failed to reach 20 points in three-straight after 20 plus in 15 of previous 17 games…Josh Erickson had eight points; he had 10 points in the last six games…Lezjon Bonds had 19 points after 20 at Chemeketa…Will Graves had 14 points and eight rebounds; he had 14 points in the last five games.
What it means: With one more game played than 1st place Umpqua, the Titans stay ½ game behind them at 8-2 and 19-3 overall.
What's next: The Titans host 6th place Clark (12-9, 4-6) on Saturday at 4 p.m.