Geoducks Shock Lewis-Clark State, 83-71
The Evergreen State College outscored visiting Lewis-Clark State by 25 points in the second half Wednesday night to stun the Warriors, 83-71, in a non-conference men's basketball game played at Costantino Recreation Center.
The Geoducks (1-3) picked up their first victory by upsetting the powerhouse Warriors (6-2), who were ranked No. 15 in the NAIA Division I preseason poll after an outstanding 29-5 record last season.
After a strong start that saw the Geoducks twice build 10-point margins in the first seven minutes, Lewis-Clark State whittled away at its deficit and eventually took its first lead at 26-25 on a Christian Davis layup with 8:52 to play in the half. LC State eventually went into the intermission with a 44-31 advantage. That spurt by the Warriors wasn't surprising given that program's recent run of success – six consecutive victories in the series – against Evergreen.
But the Geoducks were hardly done. Still down by 11 points with nearly 15 minutes to play, Evergreen scored seven unanswered points capped by Taylor Drey's steal and breakaway dunk. That fired up the crowd and the team, and the Geoducks eventually crawled back in front for the first time since the early going, 57-56, on a Ryan Quigley layup with 9:34 on the clock.
LC State took its final lead at 60-59 on Doug McDaniel's basket with 8:01 to play, but from then on it was all Evergreen. Drey hit four free throws and both Shawn Spencer and Jarrick Mitchell added a pair inside the final 1:30 to ice the win for the hosts.
Spencer, making his first start of the season, led four Geoducks in double figures with 24 points. Drey added 20 points and seven rebounds, Quigley had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Dalton Groenewold added 11 points. Mitchell, the senior point guard, ran the show on offense and finished with 12 assists.
The Geoducks shot 51 percent overall and also enjoyed a 37-28 advantage in rebounds.
Lewis-Clark State got 14 points and eight rebounds from Zavon Jackson, and other double-figure scorers were Trea Thomas and Isaiah Omamogho with 13 apiece and McDaniel with 11. The Warriors shot 45 percent from the field.
"I have a lot of respect for (Lewis-Clark State) Coach Rinta and his squad and I know how well they did last year as well," Evergreen head coach Tim Malroy said after the win. "It wasn't spectacular, but it was very methodical. It was who we want to be. We want to be able to work inside out and control tempo.
"And I know they've been averaging more than 90 points a game and we held them to 71. That's really the telltale there. I think the kind of defense we can play, we played tonight. And the type of offense and the type of shots we get, even if we don't hit them, we got those tonight, too. And we hit enough of them to get a W. Hopefully it's a springboard for us."
The Geoducks return to action, and opens Cascade Collegiate Conference play, on Nov. 29 at Northwest University.