Thunderbirds Defeat Simpson University
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Cascade men's basketball team beat the visiting Red Hawks from Simpson University, 98-72 last night in a non-conference game.
This may be their final season, but it is obvious that the T-Birds want to leave a lasting impression. Cascade opened the game with a 26-16 run in the opening minutes of the first half and stretched it to a 13 point lead at halftime; 50-37.
It was a very balanced night of scoring as six players finished in double-digits. Jared Mace, Ben Pawlak, and Elliot Barker each scored 16 points to pace the T-Birds. Josh Brown added 15, Tommy Allen 13, and Ryan Barker 10.
"I really felt that this game was extremely important to our players, our students, and the school after the news we received at the start of the week," Cascade head coach Anthony Baugher stated. "It really shows the character of these young men to want to finish the season after learning of the school's closure at the end of the spring term; I am so proud of the way they responded to this situation, our coaching staff was impressed by their resolve."
Simpson came out in the second half and cut the lead to 4 points at the 15 minute mark; but back to back baskets by Jared Mace and a lay-up by Tommy Allen pushed the lead back to double digits. Cascade outscored the Red Hawks 32-17 the rest of the way.
"One of the keys for us was the play of Kao Saelee in the second half," Baugher stated. "He was a catalyst for us off the bench, scoring 9 points to go along with his 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 rebounds. He brought a level of intensity that we needed to balance their run at the start of the second half."
Cascade hosts Multnomah University on November 6th, at 7:30pm.