Warner Pacific's Scott O'Gallagher poured in 31 points to lead the Knights to the CCC tournament championship and a spot in next week's NAIA national tournament.
Warner Pacific Outguns Evergreen, Claims Berth in NAIA Tournament
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Scott O’Gallagher and Josh Jackson combined for 50 points and Warner Pacific shot a blistering 73 percent from 3-point range as the Knights ran away from Evergreen, 87-69, in the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament championship game Tuesday night.
The win by Warner Pacific, its second straight over a higher seed in the CCC tournament, clinched an automatic bid into next week’s NAIA Division II national championships in Point Lookout, Mo. The tournament begins March 12.
The fourth-seeded Knights, who took out top-seeded Eastern Oregon in La Grande last Saturday, needed another road victory against a higher seed tonight to earn a third straight trip to the national tournament. They left little doubt about their intentions from the opening tip, racing to an early lead over the third-seeded Geoducks. WPC hit 7 of 8 3-point attempts in the first half in building a 38-30 lead at intermission. The Knights cooled off only slightly from long-range in the second half, hitting 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.
O’Gallagher, the league’s leading scorer at better than 23 points per game, sank 10 of 15 shots from the field and all five of his trey attempts on his way to a game-high 31 points. Jackson was equally effective from all over the court, hitting 7 of 12 from the field and pulling down seven rebounds on his way to a 19-point effort. Jalonta Martin had a game-high 10 rebounds for the Knights.
Warner Pacific (22-10) shot 54.5 percent from the field for the game, hitting 30 of 55 attempts, including 11 of 15 from beyond the 3-point line. The Knights held Evergreen to just 40 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from 3-point range.
Evergreen, which fell to 21-8 overall, was led by Nathan Menefee’s 24 points.
The CCC’s other automatic bid to the national tournament went to regular season champion Eastern Oregon. Oregon Tech, which finished runner-up to EOU in the regular season, is expected to be awarded an at-large bid. The Owls were ranked No. 8 in the final national poll released last week.
The national bracket will be released Wednesday.