PORTLAND | Another preseason win against a formidable foe was exactly what the Warner Pacific University Men’s Basketball team (5-2, 1-0) needed tonight before turning their focus to conference play, as they fought back-and-forth against NCAA DII Lewis & Clark College (3-2, 0-0) for a solid forty minutes of action at the Pamplin Sports Center before emerging victorious 75-71.
After trading baskets blow-for-blow in the first ten minutes of play, the Knights were able to play some lockdown defense for the next four minutes, resulting in a 10-point WPU lead before Pioneers’ guard Ryan Cibull sank a three-pointer to break the scoring drought.
The Knights would go on to lead for the remainder of the first half, extending their lead to up to 11 points through the last six minutes of first half action, and settling for a 7-point lead going into the halftime break. Warner Pacific outrebounded Lewis & Clark 19-16 in the first half, with almost half of the rebounds being split between senior guards Isaac Etter & Drew Magaoay, who secured 4 boards apiece.
Warner Pacific was able to dominate the fast-break and bench points, 6-0 and 13-2 respectfully, through the first twenty minutes of gameplay, and shot a respectable 51.7% from the field, all while shooting 50% from beyond the three-point line.
This matchup would prove to be far from over, as the Pioneers would fight back steadily after the second half began, cutting the Knights lead to just one possession at the eight-minute media timeout, 58-55 WPU. A quick and-1 basket and free throw from Pioneers’ forward Solomon Davis would knot this game at 58 points apiece, with just over seven minutes remaining.
A bucket apiece to follow led to a 60-60 game, with the Knights desperately looking to swing the momentum. In comes Etter, who nailed another deep three-pointer from the left wing to put the Knights back ahead. Determined not to let this game slip out of the Knights’ hands, Etter scored the next four points, growing the lead to seven with four minutes to go.
The Pioneers would continue to make this game competitive, as they would hold the Knights to just a single point over the next two minutes, and jump ahead by one point on a layup with under two minutes to go by guard Jalen Lowry.
Following back-to-back layups by Knights’ senior guard Tyrese Yussuf-Willis to bring the Knights up 74-71, the Pioneers would take a timeout to collect themselves, and attempt one final shot to tie this game, and possibly force an overtime period. Before Lewis & Clark could even set up their play, senior guard Darius Traylor poked the ball away at the top of the key, leading to a breakaway play by senior forward Miles Brown, resulting in the forced foul to put Brown at the line.
After missing the first attempt, Brown nailed the second free throw, extending the Knights lead to four points, and effectively icing this contest against the Thanksgiving Tournament hosts.
Etter continued to impress this weekend, scoring a game-high 23 points on 61.5% shooting from the floor, while adding 6 rebounds and an assist to the mix. Consistency in shot selection remains the keyword for Etter, who shot 60% from the field this weekend against back-to-back NCAA foes.
Magaoay once again came close to a double-double tonight, scoring 10 points and securing 8 rebounds to lead the way for WPU alongside Traylor’s 8 boards. Yussuf-Willis followed Etter on the team with 12 points over 30 minutes played.
Guard Brendan Patrick set the precedent for the home team Pioneers, scoring 19 points and bringing down 5 rebounds. Davis scored 10 points and added 8 boards to the mix, a mirror image statistically of WPU’s Magaoay, but with 3 more minutes played on the court than the 6’2 senior from Shoreline, Wash.
Knights’ Head Coach Jamayne Potts and his squad now sets their sights on the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), where they will play host for the first official weekend of CCC games, featuring the visiting Corban University Warriors and Bushnell University Beacons on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Friday contest against the Warriors is set for a 7:30pm PST tipoff, while the Saturday game against Bushnell will begin at 5pm PST.