See you later alligator

After a tough start to the game, Clark's men's basketball team achieved a 73-65 victory over Green River and remained undefeated in the west conference of the NWAACC.

With the Gators leading almost the entire first half, the Penguins were able to come back and earned their third win of the year on Jan. 11, previously beating South Puget Sound and Highline College in the beginning of the season.

During the first 15 minutes, the visitors maintained a considerable lead, controlled the basketball, and took advantage of the multiple fouls committed by the Penguins.

"We started pretty weak," sophomore forward Austin Bragg said. "We were playing ugly basketball."

After a couple of time outs, the Penguins were able to recover at the end of the first half, with Bragg and sophomore center Blake Bowen contributing to a 40-35 lead.

Bragg led the Penguins with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Bowen scored 17 and ended with five rebounds.

Head coach Mike Arnold said that the team didn't show enough energy at the beginning and couldn't execute as well as they were doing in previous games.

"About the six-minute mark in the first half we settled down, changed up the defense, got back in the ballgame and got a little lead going into half time," Arnold said.

Entering the second half, sophomore guard Derek Owens made a couple of baskets to extend the Penguins lead. The Gators tried to shorten the score, but multiple missed 3-pointers and Clark's good defense didn't let them.

The game started to slow, but a dunk by Bowen with 13 minutes to play brought the fans out of their seats at the O'Connell Center.

Clark was controlling the game, and with three minutes to play it started to rotate its players, giving the Gators the opportunity to pressure and cut the lead to 6.

"We didn't close the game out pretty," Arnold said. "But that is going to happen sometimes, I call it an ugly win."

Arnold pointed out the importance of the returning players so far this season, because they understand the focus and the execution that the team is trying to achieve, while the freshmen are still in the process of learning.

Bragg, one of those sophomores, achieved his seventh double-double of the season and leads the team in every aspect, but attributed his season's start to his teammates.

"I will get rebounds when they put out good shots," Bragg said. "It is all because of the team."

Arnold said they have to keep working on execution, turnovers, and taking care of the ball. The head coach pointed out the job his team is performing off the glass, not letting their rivals get second opportunities.

This is the first time, since Arnold took charge of the team in 2005, that the Penguins started with a 3-0 conference record. However, the team agrees it doesn't want to rely on that score, realizing as it has to travel further up the road, it will only get harder and harder.

"We have been working really hard, the program has come a long way," Arnold said. "We have better kids and it is a nice start, we just have to keep working on things that make us better."

Bowen said that it has been a great start but also agreed with his coach, saying that they try not to pay attention to their 13-1 season record so far.

"We knew coming in that this was going to be a special season," Bowen said. "We are just going to try to keep it rolling."