It was senior night for Ryan Dornik (31) and Taylor Cliett and their families.
Big First Half Seals NU Win Over Evergreen
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Propelled by a 51 point first half, Northwest University went on to post an 89-63 victory over Evergreen tonight in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
Senior Ryan Dornik and sophomore Michael Russo combined for 27 of the 51 points as Russo dropped in 14 of his 19 points and Dornik scored 13 of his game high 22 for Northwest. NU shot 50% for the half and a hot 56% from the 3 point line. Evergreen hit 9 of 25 shots in the period for 36%. Northwest would build an 11 point lead after a steal and dunk by Nemanja Grujicic (21-10) at the 12:44 mark. A 9-0 Northwest run with 10 minutes to play would build their lead to 17 as Russo would sink a 3 pointer at the 8:23 mark. Elzie Dicken’s turnaround jumper from the baseline would make it a 39-26 game with 3 minutes to go in the half, but a three point play by Michael Greene with 1:32 remaining would put NU up 45-27. Ryan McIntosh would sink one of two free throws with 1 second on the clock as the Eagles would take a 51-29 lead at the half.
Northwest would slowly put more distance between themselves and the Geoducks in the second half and by the 14:52 mark, the Eagles would be up 25 points after two free throws by Nemanja Grujicic. NU would maintain that lead for the remainder of the game as they would register their 21
st victory of the season, their third consecutive with 20 wins or more.
Northwest U. (21-9, 11-7 CCC) had four players in double figures led by Dornik’s 22 points. Michael Russo would end up with 19, junior Michael Greene with 16 points and Ryan McIntosh scored 11 for the Eagles. NU hit 50% of their shots, 54% (13-24) from the 3 point line. The Eagles out rebounded Evergreen 40-31.
Cody Peters led Evergreen (2-24, 1-17 CCC) with his 15 points, hitting 50% for the night (4 for 8). Elzie Dickens scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Geoducks who shot 38% for the game. Evergreen hit 15 of 19 free throws for 79% from the charity stripe.
“It was good to end the regular season on a positive note,” stated John Van Dyke, NU head coach. “It was also nice to see Ryan Dornik and Taylor Cliett have good games on senior night in front of their families and friends. They’ve been an integral part of this team the past two seasons. Now, we’ll prepare to go to Caldwell next week to begin post season play.”
Northwest will be the #5 seed in the CCC post season tournament and will travel to the College of Idaho while Evergreen completes their season.