Nate Menefee led all scorers with 34 points.
Menefee Scores 34 to Lead Evergreen to 93-78 Victory over Northwest
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Evergreen State College will head to Klamath Falls, Ore., Saturday, meeting Oregon Institute of Technology in the semifinals of the Cascade Conference Tournament. In Wednesday night's first-round game, Nathan Menefee scored 34 points to help lead the Geoducks to a 93-78 victory over Northwest University in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The sixth-seeded Northwest Eagles were forced to play catch-up the entire game, falling behind Evergreen by 14 points at the game;s mid-point. While the scoring remained close in the second period (ESC 47, NU 46) the Eagles were only able to close the gap to nine points midway through the second half. While Northwest played aggressively and had some opportunities as it forced a few turnovers, they were rarely able to capitalize. Evergreen struck back with 15 steals of their own, scoring 25 points off of the 31 Northwest turnovers.
Menefee (So, Timberline HS) tallied a season's high, averaging 63% of his field goal attempts, 62% from 3-point range (5 of 8) and added five assists and four steals. Senior David Howard (Dallas, TX) had a great game, scoring a season's high 18 points as he hit 72% of field goal attempts and made 6 of 6 from the free throw line. A late-game alley-oop pass from Menefee saw Howard slam the ball into the net, an enthusiatic exclamation point to the team's win. And while the display earned Howard a non-personal technical, there was little complaining from the the Evergreen bench and fans as they cheered Howard's play.
"The seniors stepped it up tonight, led by David Howard," noted Geoduck coach Jeff Drinkwine.
Evergreen's Michael Ward (Jr. Kansas City, MO) and Nick Moore (Jr. Bethel HS) socred 12 and 13 points, respectively.
The Eagles' burly Greg George had a very solid game, scoring 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Derek Miller ad 17 points and Eddie Coulson had 12.
As the Geoducks prepare for their matchup with second-seeded OIT, they head into that game with a split series against the Owls. ESC lost at Klamath Falls and prevailed in Olympia in the teams' regular-season meetings.
Said Drinkwine, "The team is focused on each game. We just have to keep doing what we are doing."
Game time in Klamath Falls is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.