OLYMPIA, Wash. – Putting up 10 three-pointers, including eight in the first half, the College of Idaho Yotes earned an 89-78 win over the Evergreen Geoducks in a Cascade Conference men’s basketball game on Friday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

Senior Rodney Delgardo opened up the scoring just 16 seconds in as a three-ball put the Yotes (11-11, 7-5 CCC) up early.  The Geoducks (2-18, 1-11 CCC) answered back with a jumper by Travis Wagner (Federal Way, Wash./Green River CC) to keep things tight.  The Yotes continued to hold a slight lead until the 13:22 mark when freshman Frankie Johnson (Renton, Wash./Hazen HS) drained a three-pointer that gave Evergreen a 17-16 lead.

The Yotes answered back with a three-ball by Duncan Koga and another by Taylor Pruett as C of I continued to push the lead, eventually hitting double-digits with 6:39 left to play in the opening period.  Evergreen cut the differential down to just three with 14 seconds left to play on a Johnson layup but Antonio Garrett hit a pair of three throws with two ticks left to give College of Idaho the 47-42 halftime lead.

In the second half, Evergreen battled back to within three points on a layup by Elzie Dickens (Seattle, Wash./Highline CC) with 13:14 left to play but the Yotes continued to make shots to stop any rally the Geoducks tried to put together.  The lead hit double-digits again with 4:30 left to play and Evergreen couldn’t find an opportunity to get back in as College of Idaho earned the 89-78 win.

Evergreen was led by a second-straight 24 point performance from Johnson, who also added seven assists in 34 minutes on the floor.  Marc Taylor (Boise, Idaho/Edmonds CC) added 14 points while Dickens picked up 11 points off the bench.  Wagner rounded out the Evergreen scorers in double-digits with 10 points on the night.

College of Idaho was led by 16 points from Garrett.  Miguel Rodriguez added 19 points while Sydney Donaldson chipped in 14 points in the win.  Delgardo finished with 13 points while Koga came off the bench to put in 11 points for the Yotes.  As a team, C of I shot 47.7% on the night, making 31-of-65 attempts from the field, including 10-of-26 from behind the three-point arc.

Things don’t get any easier for the Geoducks as they play host to top-ranked Eastern Oregon on Saturday night.  Tip with the Mounties is set for 7:30 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

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