PORTLAND, Ore. – The Evergreen Geoducks erased a second-half doubleheader but the Warner Pacific Knights proved victorious, 79-70, in a Cascade Conference men’s basketball game on Saturday night at C.C. Perry Gymnasium in Portland, Ore.
The first half was a tight one as the Geoducks and Knights seemed to match either other shot for shot with neither team allowing the other to build much of a lead. A 12-2 run over the final four minutes of the half allowed Warner Pacific to take a double-digit lead into the break at 45-33.
Warner Pacific pushed the lead to 16 points with just over 17 minutes to play and it looked like WPC might cruise to victory but the Geoducks didn’t give up, digging deep and battling back to within one point on a three ball by Jordan Dam (Tacoma, Wash./Wilson HS/Centralia CC) with 10:11 left to play. Unfortunately for Evergreen, they would be unable to regain the lead as Warner Pacific held on for the 79-70 win.
Evergreen was led by 19 points from Dam. Cody Peters (Oak Harbor, Wash./Coupeville HS/Western Oregon) and Dre Taylor (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS/North Idaho College) each added 13 points while Kyle Calhoun(Seattle, Wash./Hazen HS/Marshalltown CC) added 11 points in the loss.
Warner Pacific was led by 19 points from Doug Thomas. Ryan Parks added 16, including five three-pointers, while Marcus Moore finished with 13 points on the night. Josh Black rounded out the Knights in double-digit scoring with 10 points.
The Geoducks look to bounce back on Friday night when they host Northwest Christian. Tip with the Beacons is set for 7:30 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.