Evergreen Comes Up Just Short in Upset Bid
Evergreen scrapped with No. 4-ranked College of Idaho for 40 minutes Friday night but the Coyotes were able to hold off an upset bid in pulling out a 64-55 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball victory inside Costantino Recreation Center.
The Geoducks (5-17 overall, 1-13 CCC) took a 23-20 edge into the halftime break, but a Gibson Berryhill three-pointer with 14:41 to play started a 13-1 run that changed C of I's 31-29 deficit into a 42-32 lead with 12:34 on the clock. The 'Yotes led by as many as 11 points on several occasions and then held off a final surge that saw the Geoducks cut their deficit to four points, 56-52, with 1:15 remaining. College of Idaho iced the game at the foul line, shooting 8-for-10 after that.
Keun Palu-Thompson scored 16 points to pace the Coyotes (22-3, 13-2), while Ryan Quigley scored 16 points and Dalton Groenewold recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Geoducks. Mana Niu finished the game with 12 points, 10 of which came in the opening half.
Evergreen led for most of the first 20-minute period, going up by as many as six points at 10-4 on a Niu jumper about seven minutes into the contest. Both teams shot the ball poorly in the opening 20 minutes, Evergreen going 10-for-32 (31 percent) compared to 8-for-31 (26 percent) for the visitors.
College of Idaho's numbers changed significantly in the final half, however, as the 'Yotes shot 16-for-24 in the final period with most of those field goals coming near the basket. Palu-Thompson, playing in front of about 50 fans from his hometown of Tacoma, scored 14 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes, including hitting six of eight at the foul line. Berryhill was a marksman from the outside, nailing all three of his attempts from beyond the three-point line.
The Geoducks were 13-for-30 from the floor in the second half and finished the game at 37 percent, and were just 4-for-15 from beyond the three-point line. College of Idaho edged Evergreen in rebounding, 40-37, with Palu-Thompson and Matt Meyers both grabbing seven.
Both teams return to action tomorrow night, Evergreen hosting Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho playing Northwest University in Kirkland.