Northwest's Stedman Richardson (4) had a game-high 31 points as Northwest upset No. 20 Evergreen in Olympia.
Richardson Lifts NU to OT Upset of Evergreen
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- With both teams shooting below 40 percent for the night, including three-pointing shooting south of 27 percent for each, the door was open for one player to make the difference. Stedman Richardson proved to be that man for Northwest University on Friday night at The Greenhouse, finishing with 31 points, many of them clutch as the Eagles upset #20 Evergreen, causing a four-way tie in the loss column for the Cascade Collegiate Conference lead.
Combined with Northwest Christian University's overtime win over #3 Oregon Tech and #24 Eastern Oregon's defeat of #5 Warner Pacific, the result left the Geoducks at 9-3 in CCC play along with Tech and Warner while Eastern Oregon is 8-3.
With Evergreen All-America Nate Menefee shooting a frosty 8-of-24 from the field and usually reliable Julio Feliciano shooting 3-of-13, Richardson was the only player in the building who could remotely be said to have a hot-shooting night, but even at that he didn't truly take control until the final 5:08 of the game. With eight seconds left in regulation, he knocked down a three from the right corner that tied the game at 72. Then, in overtime, he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line as Northwest outscored Evergreen, 10-8 for the win.
Greg George (15), Rich Skillman (12) and Greg Peters (10) were also in double figures for Northwest (12-10, 7-5). George added 13 rebounds and Peters 10. Menefee led Evergreen (16-7, 9-3) with his third straight game of exactly 22 points, while Jamier Dodd added 11 and Josh Troyer 10. Feliciano had 13 rebounds and six assists while Menefee had 12 rebounds and four assists.