Reggie Guyton led Warner Pacific with 22 points on Saturday against the Cavaliers.
Knights Thwart Concordia Comeback Attempt in Crosstown Clash
PORTLAND, Ore.—After giving up a 13-point lead at the half, No.6-ranked Warner Pacific used a 19-4 run late in the second to defeat Concordia in Cascade Collegiate men’s basketball action inside the Cavalier Gymnasium on Saturday night.
With the win, Warner Pacific improved to 16-4 overall and 8-2 in the CCC to stay within a half game of league leaders Oregon Tech (20-3, 9-2) and Evergreen State (16-5, 9-2) while CU dropped to 14-7 overall and 4-6 in league action to remain sixth in the CCC standings.
Concordia returns to action next week by traveling to face The College of Idaho while Warner Pacific hits the road to face Eastern Oregon on Friday. The two teams swap opponents for Saturday’s contests.
With the score tied at 19-19, the Knights pulled away midway through the first with a 17-6 run which was highlighted by a pair of threes by Reggie Guyton. The Cavs cur the deficit to seven on back-to-back layups from Kevan West and Alex Tiefenthaler but Warner Pacific would go on to tally the last six points of the half to claim a 49-36 lead at the break.
Boosted by a 10-1 spark to open the second, the Cavaliers pulled to within four after a Jourdan Sweeney slam at the 17:01 mark. The momentum for the home team would continue as the Cavs posted 25 of the first 34 points of the half to retake the lead with the score 61-58 with 13:23 remaining.
The lead would be shortlived as the Knights slowly pulled away with key buckets from Guyton, who finished with a team-high 22 points off 9 of 16 shooting from the floor which included 4 of 8 attempts from three-point territory.
The Knights re-upped their lead to as many as 14 points in the second half after a pair of free throws by Webster Moreland with 3:37 remaining before settling for the nine-point win.
Tiefenthaler finished with a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds while Sweeney added 15 points and 11 boards to give two CU players a ‘double-double’.
Behind Guyton, Moreland finished with 15 points and three other concluded the night with 10 to give five Knights double-digit scoring totals.
Concordia was hampered by 25 turnovers in the contest compared to 17 for the visitors. WPC shot 52.4 percent (33 of 63) from the floor in the game and 47.6 percent (10 of 21) from long range. The Cavs finished with a 44.8 percent (26 of 58) shooting rate but outrebounded the Knights 43-33.