COOS BAY — Southwestern Oregon Community College men’s basketball sophomore Joseph Foster shrugged off a poor shooting night against Chemeketa last Wednesday by putting extra time in the gym.

All those extra shots he took before practice paid big dividends for the Lakers on Saturday, when they beat visiting Portland Community College 97-85 to improve to 2-1 in NWAACC South Region play.

Foster hit five of his first six 3-point shots and scored 18 points in the first seven minutes to give the Lakers an early lead they kept throughout the game.

“In the Chemeketa game, I couldn’t hit a 3 at all,” Foster said. “I’ve been in the gym the last few days trying to fix my shot.”

Foster finished the game with 30 points — including shooting 6-for-8 from behind the arc — to lead the Lakers.

“When he gets in his rhythm, he knocks them down,” Southwestern coach Trevor Hoppe said of Foster’s big night.

The same concept was true for the entire team, which shot better than 50 percent from the field and 10-for-20 from 3-point range.

“We rebounded, which led to running, which led to getting shots in rhythm,” Hoppe said.

While Foster was knocking down 3-pointers, point guard Bobby Watkins was distributing the ball to open players — primarily Foster — to get Southwestern’s offense into high gear.

“He gets us going,” Hoppe said.

Watkins had nine of his 12 assists in the first half, when the Lakers made 20 of their 31 shot attempts, and also contributed 14 points in the game.

Foster credited Watkins with setting him up for the good looks at the basket.

“We have a real good chemistry,” he said. “He knows where I’m going to be.”

It wasn’t just Watkins. As a team, the Lakers had 15 assists in the first half, including a pretty pass from Nick Guidice to Foster that set up a conventional three-point play that thrilled the large home crowd as much as the frequent long bombs.

Another crowd thriller was a quick-passing sequence with the ball going from Alex Dermith to Tyler Leman to Karlton Grant to Kevin Reynolds for a layin to cap a 7-0 run late in the first half.

Despite the offensive fireworks, though, the Lakers weren’t able to put the Panthers away until the midway point of the second half.

Portland stayed close with its own display of marksmanship, including five treys in the opening half.

The Panthers cut the lead to five points a number of times and four points once, but Southwestern answered every rally.

After Shawn West cut the lead to 44-39 late in the half, Watkins made a 3-pointer and then a shorter jumper and the basket by Reynolds put Southwestern in front 51-39 in the final minute of the half.

The second half was more of the same.

Foster had an early four-point play — he got fouled while swishing a 3 from the corner — and Watkins had his second trey of the night to stop another Portland run.

“We were able to keep a little separation,” Hoppe said. “They never made a big, big run.”

The Lakers finally pulled away in the last 10 minutes.

The only question was whether Southwestern would hit the century mark, but with all the starters out of the game several minutes earlier, the Lakers passed on taking a shot on their final possession with the shot clock already off, instead running off the final seconds.

The team wasn’t concerned with the score so much as the win.

“We regrouped after the tough loss Wednesday,” Watkins said. “We came out and did what we had to do.”

That included getting quality minutes from several players with foul trouble an issue.

Reynolds came off the bench to score 17 points and grab six rebounds, while regular offensive standout Emmanuel Olekaibe had 13 points in limited minutes. Leman, who played for North Bend, grabbed five rebounds and scored six points while giving up several inches going up against Portland’s big men. And though Grant didn’t score in the game, he did have a team-high 11 rebounds.

Foster’s early shooting display provided a huge spark, Watkins said.

“That helps a lot — kind of feeds the fire,” he said.

The big home crowd also helped.

“It’s a big energy booster — seeing all the red shirts,” he said, referring to the Southwestern shirts many of the students wear to the games. “I love our crowd.”

And in what should be a tight league race, winning at home becomes vital.

“We have to protect home court,” Watkins said. “It’s a must.”

The Lakers are home again Wednesday to face Linn-Benton, and Hoppe hopes for a similar outcome.

He felt good heading into Saturday’s game when he showed up Thursday morning, following the late night at Chemeketa.

“I knew we were going to be OK when I came in an hour early and Bobby and Joseph were in the gym getting extra shots,” he said.

The leadership, and extra work, of the sophomores proved extra valuable Saturday.

Southwestern 97, Portland 85

PORTLAND (85): Ronnie Phillips 16, Ty Houghton 15, Elzie Dickens 14, Gary Hasan 14, Shawn West 13, Mike Richmond 7, Tyler Mendezona 6, Taylor Pettiford, Josh Stoulil.

SOUTHWESTERN (97): Joseph Foster 30, Kevin Reynolds 17, Bobby Watkins 14, Emmanuel Olekaibe 13, Alex Dermith 8, Matt Dance 7, Tyler Leman 6, Chris Ragland 2, Karlton Grant, Nick Guidice, Ian Phillips.

Halftime: Southwestern 51, Portland 41.