Evergreen came out fast taking an 20-9 lead by the 13:52 mark in the first half. But the Eagles recovered and would go on  a 9-0 run to make it 20-18 after NU’s Greg Peters tipped in his offensive rebound. Evergreen State would then out score NU 10-4 to increase their lead to 30-22 at the 7:44 mark. 6-9 Greg George would hit a post move in the paint to pull NU to within two, 30-28, with 5:19 on the clock as the game would remain close the remainder of the half with Evergreen State taking a narrow, 46-41 lead at the half as ESC’s Mikey Hope would hit his layup with 8 seconds left on the clock.

 

In the second half, Evergreen State would lead 57-54, six minutes into the half when Northwest would begin its charge. Rich Skillman would steal the ball and drive the length of the court to pull NU to within one point, 57-56 and 30 seconds later Skillman would spark the Eagles with another steal and layup to give NU the lead for the first time in the game, 58-57 with 11:36 left in the game. The lead would see-saw back and forth from that point on with five ties and as many lead changes. With NU leading 72-70, Mikey Hope would tie the game for the Geoducks with his driving layup in the paint and teammate Josh Troyer would follow that up with a steal and assist to Hope for another TESC layup to give Evergreen State a 74-72 lead with 1:55 to go in regulation. After a time out, NU’s Greg Peters would score in the paint to knot the score at 74-all with 1:19 to go and a missed Marice Tolliver jumper  with 15 seconds to go would send the game into overtime.

 

NU would score on its first possession as Rich Skillman would hit a 15 footer but Mikey Hope would tie it once again with his jumper (76-76). Stedman Richardson would make one of two free throws to give NU a one point lead, 77-76 and Jordan Call would make his two footer in the paint after a Skillman rebound to give NU a 79-76 lead with 3:03 to go. ESC’s Josh Troyer would give the Geoducks a 83-81 lead  with his 3-pointer. Jordan Call would make one of two free throws to make it a one point ball game, 83-82 with 55 seconds remaining. Mikey Hope would miss his jumper with 30 seconds left in extra time, but NU’s Stedman Richardson would be called for a charge, sending Hope to the free throw line with 13 seconds remaining. Hope missed the front end of a one-and-one and Richardson was fouled after rebounding a Skillman 3-point attempt. Richardson stepped to the line with 6 seconds remaining and drilled both shots giving NU a 84-83 lead. After a ESC time out, the Geoducks failed in two attempts to inbound the ball as Greg Peters would tip Marice Tolliver’s inbound pass to Rich Skillman for the steal and victory.

 

Northwest U. (16-5, 8-4 CCC) was led by senior Greg George’s 16 points and 9 rebounds. Junior Jordan Call dropped in 14 points as did Greg Peters who also added 13 rebounds to his totals for a double-double. Tyson Christie and Rich Skillman each scored 10 for the Eagles who shot 41% for the night and only 15% from 3-point range. NU held the rebounding edge on TESC, 51-37.

 

The Evergreen State College (7-14, 4-7 CCC) had four players in double figures with Mikey Hope leading the way with his game high 22 points while adding 6 assists. Marice Tolliver scored 16 points, Josh Troyer added 13 and Larry  Green contributed 11 points for the Geoducks who shot a blistering 50% on the night from 2-point range and 42% from the 3-point distance.

 

"Give Evergreen State a lot of credit for their effort tonight," stated NU coach, John Van Dyke. "and Mikey Hope played well for them. I'm proud of our guys never giving up and continuing to battle through adversity. Rich Skillman came off the bench late in the game to give us a huge lift. It wasn't a pretty win, but a win this time of season is a good one."

 

Both teams will be at home next weekend as they will host Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech on their home courts Friday and Saturday nights. Games are set for a 7:30 p.m. tip off each night. NU will host SOU on Friday while TESC will play OIT and then SOU and OIT switch venues on Saturday night.