PORTLAND, Ore. – Down by 20 points with 7:39 left to play, the Evergreen Geoducks stormed back to pull within four but they couldn’t complete the comeback, falling to the Concordia Cavaliers 78-67 in a Cascade Conference men’s basketball game on Saturday night at Cavalier Gym in Portland, Ore.
The Geoducks got off to the quick start, as they have in many games this season, as Evergreen led 7-3 with 15:30 left to go in the first half. CU quickly found their grove and grabbed a lead of their out with seven straight but a three-ball by Frankie Johnson (Renton, Wash./Hazen HS) with 12:46 to go tied the game at 10-10.
After the teams kept things tight for the next few minutes, the Cavs went on a 7-0 run that put them up by nine and another quick four-point run put CU up by 10. Concordia continued to double-up the Geoducks for the remainder of the half, taking a 38-24 lead into the break.
With plenty of basketball left to play, the Geoducks came storming out in the second half, using a 10-2 run over the first two minutes to pull back within six points at 40-34. Five straight points by CU’s Willy Ligon pushed the lead back into double digits. The advantage hit 15 just after the 10 minute mark as Ligon scored his 20th point of the night to put CU up, 56-41.
The lead was pushed the 20 with 7:39 left to play but the Cavaliers found themselves in foul trouble early. Evergreen cut the gap to 10 as the clock ticked down to just over 2:30 left to play. Cody Peters (Coupeville, Wash./Western Oregon Univ.) hit a three pointer with 2:19 left to play and Travis Wagner (Federal Way, Wash./Green River CC) hit a three-pointer of his own just 15 second later as the Geoducks pulled within four at 71-67.
Concordia rallied for the final two minutes, using a combination of free throws and open layups to score seven straight to collect the 78-67 win.
Evergreen was led by 16 points from Johnson. Peters finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds to earn the double-double while Michael Potter (Ridgefield, Wash./Ridgefield HS) put up 11 points in the loss.
Concordia was led by 22 points from Ligon. Adam Herman finished with 16 points on the night while Kory Kirwan finished with 14. Robbie Jackson put up 11 points before fouling out with about seven minutes left to play.
The Geoducks return home on Friday night, playing host to Oregon Tech. Tip with the Owls is set for 7:30 p.m.