Knights Hold Off Evergreen State
PORTLAND, Ore. – Warner Pacific earned a key Cascade Conference win tonight with a 64-51 decision over Evergreen State inside C.C. Perry Gym.
The result keeps Warner Pacific (14-11, 8-7 CCC) at 5th place in the CCC and within one game of College of Idaho for the right to host a playoff contest.
Though the Knights did not shoot the ball particularly well (37.3 percent), the difference proved to be the margin in rebounding. The hosts outworked Evergreen on the glass 42-30 and scored 17 second chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.
Warner Pacific started the game strong and led 19-13 midway through the first period, but went cold at that point. The visiting Geoducks went on a 15-2 run over the next nine minutes to take a six point lead, and enjoyed a 27-25 advantage into the break.
The shooting woes continued for WP after halftime and the Greeners capitalized by running out to a 38-29 lead, their largest of the game.
The Knights slowly battled back, and regained the lead on a Kelsey Mattsen jump shot at the 8:26 mark and would not trail again. Layne Tucker contributed to the cause with a pair of three point goals during the comeback.
Mattsen finished with a game high 20 points for Warner Pacific, which included a 10 for 10 effort from the free throw line. Katie Smith added 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Evergreen received 10 points each from LaTrina Woods and Vanessa Caskey, while Shavon Tate had 8 points and 7 assists.
Warner Pacific hosts Northwest University tomorrow night, while Evergreen heads across town to Concorcia. Both games are at 5:30 pm.