TACOMA, Wash. – Senior Kyle Calhoun (Seattle, Wash./Hazen HS/Marshalltown CC) put up 24 points but the Evergreen Geoducks couldn’t pick up the win, falling to the Puget Sound Loggers, 71-58, in a non-conference men’s basketball game on Friday night at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash.
In the first half, it was the Loggers who came out on fire, scoring the first five points before Bryce Phillip (Spanaway, Wash./Bethel HS/Green River CC) scored for the Geoducks. Evergreen fought back to tie the game early but a 12-3 run gave UPS a nine-point lead with 13:30 to go in the opening half. The Loggers continued to push the pace, using a layup with 9:30 to go to extend the lead into double-digits and Puget Sound would keep the lead, taking a 38-24 lead into the break.
In the second half, the two teams were even most of the way but the early deficit proved too much to overcome. The Geoducks used a three-ball by Calhoun with 16:20 left to go to cut the Logger lead to 10 but they would never get any closer, falling 71-58 in the non-conference matchup.
Evergreen was led by the 24 points from Calhoun, who was nine-of-15 from the field, including five-of-seven from the three-point line. Cameron Faison (Atlanta, Ga./Foster HS/West Valley College) added eight as the Geoducks next leading scorer. The green and white shot just 39.6% from the field, making 21-of-53 attempts.
Puget Sound was led by 24 points from Rex Nelson. Keith Shattuck came off the bench to score 11 while Nick Holden finished with 10 points for the Loggers. UPS had a slight advantage in rebounding, bringing down 38 boards compared with 36 for Evergreen.
The Geoducks play their third Division I opponent of the season on Saturday night when they head up to Seattle to take on WAC member Seattle University in an exhibition. Tip with the Redhawks is set for 7 p.m. at KeyArena.