OLYMPIA, Wash. – Michael Greene was 11-of-13 from the field as the Northwest Eagles picked up a 76-57 win over the Evergreen Geoducks in a non-conference men’s basketball game on Wednesday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.
Greene scored the first two points of the night for the Eagles (3-1) and Northwest would never trail. Evergreen (1-2) found themselves down by double-digits with 12:09 left to play but the Geoducks kept battling, despite a sharp-shooting Northwest squad. The Eagles shot 58.1% from the field in the first half en route to a 42-26 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Geoducks cut the lead to 11 with 16:40 to go but Northwest showed why they are receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 as they pushed the lead into the 20s. Evergreen kept battling and got the differential down to 13 but it was simply too much to overcome as NU earned the 76-57 win.
Evergreen was led by 17 points from Kyle Calhoun (Seattle, Wash./Hazen HS/Marshalltown CC). Marc Taylor (Boise, Idaho/Skyview HS/Edmonds CC) added 14 points while Frankie Johnson (Renton, Wash./Hazen HS) dished out six assists on the night.
Northwest was led by 26 points from Greene. Ryan McIntosh added 15 points for the Eagles while Nemanja Grujicic earned the double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. C.J. Carter came off the bench to add 10 as the NU bench picked up 18 points.
Evergreen hits the big time their next time out as they take on the University of Utah in an exhibition on Friday in a game that will be televised on the Pac-12 Mountain network. Tip with the Utes is set for 6:06 p.m. MST at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.