Geoducks Give No. 12 College of Idaho a Battle
The Evergreen State College went toe-to-toe with College of Idaho for most of the game on Saturday night but in the end the No. 12-ranked Coyotes got out of Costantino Recreation Center with a 77-67 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball victory.
The Coyotes (12-5 overall, 6-1 CCC) defeated the Geoducks (2-15, 1-7) for the 15th consecutive time, but the hosts certainly didn't make it easy on the visitors from Caldwell, Idaho.
Evergreen grabbed the early lead before College of Idaho gained the advantage, leading 13-9 after about 5 1/2 minutes of action. The Geoducks responded by outscoring the Coyotes, 14-6, over the next six minutes to gain their largest lead of the game at 23-19. Dustin Meade scored seven points, Pat Ling got four and Ryan Quigley closed the run with a conventional three-point play.
College of Idaho regained a 41-35 edge by the intermission, but it certainly was game on at that time.
The Coyotes led throughout the entire second half, though Evergreen stayed close for awhile and actually got to within a point at 45-44 on a Jaurence Chisholm jumper with 16:49 remaining. College of Idaho had a response befitting a nationally ranked team, however, going on a 13-3 run over the next four minutes to open up its first double-digit margin of the game at 58-47.
The visitors built a 16-point margin with 8:23 to play, and the Geoducks never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Ling scored 19 points, Quigley added 18 and Meade tallied 13 to lead the Geoducks, who shot 46 percent (24-for-52) overall.
Talon Pinckney led five College of Idaho players in double figures with 18 points, and he added three steals to his line. Roosevelt Adams and Aziz Leeks both finished with double-doubles, Adams getting 16 points and 10 rebounds and Leeks finishing with 12 points and 13 boards. Other double-digit scorers were Keun Palu-Thompson with 14 and Gibson Berryhill with 11.
College of Idaho shot 49 percent (27-for-55) overall and 50 percent (11-for-22) from beyond the three-point line, including a stellar 4-for-4 from Pinckney and 3-for-5 from Berryhill.
Evergreen plays the third contest of a five-game home stand starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Northwest University.