Saints, 10-0, set sights on division title

By PETER HILLS

The Saints emerged Wednesday night as the only undefeated team in the NWAACCs when they came out victorious in a tough game against Chemeketa 87-70 in Salem.

“We matched up pretty well. They have a lot of scorers, so do we. They like to play defense, and so do we,” said freshman Jake Glisson.

Coach Rob Nielson said, “They are a very good team, we just had to keep doing what we were doing and eventually we just finally wore them down a little bit. It was a hard fought game, but I thought our guys executed and did a good job.”

The Chemeketa crowd was getting a bit rowdy in hopes of breaking the Saints. “It has a factor, but it’s almost there every night so you’re kind of used to it,” said Glisson. Guard Corey Nielson says the loud crowd added more excitement to the game. “Reminded me of high school games. We love it though, it gets the blood pumping.”

The Saints’ were coming off a win against Lane last Saturday. Coach Nielson said, “Lane, to me, is a very scary team, they’re very talented, explosive, and it’s a hard place to play. It’s a real good win for us. I was a little bit concerned that our guys would be overlooking Lane and looking at Chemeketa because they were in second place. I thought we executed well, and played good defensively.”

Glisson has been standing out as a scorer with his 345 points, averaging 16.4 per game, but as of late he has been stepping up defensively. Last Saturday he shut down one of Lane’s best players, Micheal Marek, and Wednesday night he defended against Riley Luettgerodt who’s is the leading scorer in the NWAACC with 498 points, averaging 27.7 per game. “I chased him around as much as I could and try not to let him get the ball,” said Glisson.

Coach Nielson said, “Last couple games we just challenged (Glisson), and he’s done a really good job defensively and stepped up to the challenge. He’s big, strong and able to do a good job.”

Glisson isn’t the only player doing a stand-up job; in addition to the starting line-up the rest of the team also helps aid the Saints. “A big boost is our bench. Some of these guys don’t see a lot of minutes, but they are cheering for us, keeping our heads in the game. When we get down they’re chanting ‘defense’. It really helps the whole team coming together,” said Nielson.

Wednesday’s win against Chemeketa marks the Saints’ tenth unanswered win.
“This is a big step right here, but we still have a long way to go,” said Nielson, who had 21 points and nine rebounds.

The Saints’ have four remaining games in league play, starting with Saturday’s home game against Umpqua.

“We have to win two of the next four games to clinch the league championship in the Southern Region. We’d like to go undefeated, but our goal is to win the Southern Region and get to the NWAACC tournament,” said coach Nielson.

The Saints find themselves in a familiar position. Last season, they were up 10-0 in when Chemeketa handed them their lone loss.

“We won’t do a lot differently. It’s that time of year, where it’s been a long year, and we’ll just keep refining the little things,” said coach Nielson.

Nielson hopes they play a step above last season.

“We were co-conference champions three years in a row. This year we want it all for ourselves.”