Brock Otis gets to the basket for two points.
Geoducks End Losing Streak to Northwest
The Evergreen State College put an emphatic end to a 14-game losing streak to Northwest University, thumping the visiting Eagles, 86-71, in a non-conference men's basketball game played Tuesday night at CRC Gymnasium.
You would have to go all the way back to Dec. 30, 2009, to find the last time that Evergreen defeated Northwest, but the Geoducks (1-2) accomplished the task in convincing fashion this evening. Evergreen led by as many as 23 points late in the second half before settling for the 15-point victory over the Eagles (1-3).
Alix Hernandez tallied a double-double for Evergreen with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and in fact had a strong overall floor game with three assists and a game-high four steals. Danny Powell came within one rebound of his third consecutive double-double, ending up with a team-high 17 points and nine boards for the Geoducks. Frankie Johnson scored 15 points and Jarrick Mitchell contributed a game-high five assists and Evergreen finished the game with 21 assists on their 32 field goals.
The Geoducks hit 52 percent of their shots from the field (32-for-62) and 44 percent from three-point range (10-for-23). Rebounds were even with both teams getting 36.
Ben Tucakovic and Zach Smith both recorded double-doubles for the visitors, Tucakovic with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Smith with 11 points and 10 boards. Dak Shagren and Jaden Jenkins both scored 12 points for the Eagles, who shot 44 percent (28-for-64) overall but only 12 percent (3-for-24) from three-point range.
"We were ready for our home opener, to have a game on our home court," Hernandez, a senior forward said. "We wanted to come out with a bang. We wanted to send a little thing to the league and let them know we're ready to play. I think that was a good statement. We've got a long ways to go still, but that's a good start."
Northwest led only once, that on the opening field goal by Tucakovic about 40 seconds into the contest. Hernandez tied the game with a layup about one minute later and Mitchell followed with a three-pointer the next time the Geoducks brought the ball down the floor as the hosts raced out to a 21-5 lead less than eight minutes into the first half.
The Geoducks built an 18-point lead at 40-22 on Johnson's three-point basket with 3:33 remaining in the opening period before settling for a 45-28 advantage at the break.
The Eagles got within 15 points early in the second half, but the Geoducks rebuilt their lead to the low 20s and kept it that way until the final couple of minutes when the visitors pulled to within 83-69 on a pair of Tucakovic free throws with 1:20 left to play.
"It felt like all the hard work we put in during the preseason with the continuity in the offense and understanding where to get our shots, it really came together, like almost perfectly tonight," Evergreen head coach Tim Malroy said. "I never felt like we forced anything. The guys were patient. With 10 seconds on the shot clock the guys were moving the ball and looking for each other and then we hit the open ones."
When informed that his team had ended a long losing streak to the Eagles, Malroy smiled. "I'm hoping to break up a lot of streaks like that this season."