Geoducks Make it a Clean Sweep of Northwest
The Evergreen State College built a 19-point lead in the second half and then weathered a late comeback by visiting Northwest University on Tuesday night in taking an 84-79 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball victory at CRC Gymnasium.
The Geoducks (7-11 overall, 4-6 CCC) swept the three-game series from the Eagles (7-12, 3-7), the last two coming in conference action. Evergreen reached the halfway point of the conference schedule with four wins, three more than it earned in 18 contests last season.
Alix Hernandez and Brock Otis led the Geoducks with 18 points each, followed by Danny Powell with 17 and Frankie Johnson with 11. Hernandez, a 6-1 senior, had his usual strong all-around game with nine assists and six rebounds. Powell grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with his 17 points for his 11th double-double of the season.
After Jarrick Mitchell opened the game with a layup for the Geoducks, Dak Shagren responded in kind at the other end of the floor for a 2-2 tie. That was the only tie in a game that the Eagles never led. The Geoducks proceeded to score the next 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers by Powell, to take a 13-2 edge just three minutes into the contest.
Evergreen led by as many as 12 points in the opening half before settling for a 41-34 advantage at the intermission.
The Geoducks continued to add to their lead in the opening minutes of the final period, eventually building a 63-44 advantage on a three-pointer by Otis with 12:17 to play.
At that point, Northwest University head coach Jon Van Dyke looked to his bench for a spark, and his second unit brought the deficit down to 14 points before both coaches reinserted their starters for the final six minutes.
Hernandez hit a three to give the Geoducks a 77-62 advantage with 4:39 to play, and as it turned out most of that 15-point edge was whittled away. Tomas Ogbaslassie hit a deep three from the left wing with 3.7 seconds left to get his team within five, but once Evergreen got the inbound pass to Otis, the Eagles didn't foul and the clock ran out.
The Geoducks shot 53 percent overall (28-for-53), including 42 percent from three-point range (10-for-24), and they grabbed 36 rebounds compared to 30 for the visitors. The leading free throw shooting team in the conference, they did make it a little difficult on themselves by going 18-for-27 at the charity stripe.
Michael Dupree had an outstanding game for the Eagles with 28 points and four steals. Ogbaslassie scored 12 points and Shagren added 10. Northwest shot 48 percent from the field (33-for-69) but just 27 percent from three-point land (6-for-22).
Evergreen returns to conference action at 3 p.m. Sunday when it hosts Walla Walla University.