LACEY, Wash. – A hot-shooting Saint Martin’s team was too much for the Evergreen Geoducks to overcome as the Saints took the men’s basketball exhibition between Thurston County rivals, 89-69, on Tuesday night at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash.

In the first half, the Saint couldn’t miss as SMU quickly built a lead, reaching double-digits on six-of-seven shooting with 16:06 left to play in the opening period.  Saint Martin’s eventually cooled off a little bit and the Geoducks found their shot but the lead continued to grow as a three-pointer at the buzzer by Kyle Calhoun (Seattle, Wash./Hazen HS/Marshalltown CC) closed the gap to 15 at half with SMU leading 49-34.

In the second half, the Geoducks managed to keep with the Saints but the differential was too much to overcome as SMU held on for the 89-69 win.  Evergreen did put on the defensive pressure in the second period, picking up 10 points off nine SMU turnovers but the Geoducks struggled shooting, making just 28.1% of attempts in the second half.

Evergreen was led by 16 points each from Calhoun and Frankie Johnson (Renton, Wash./Hazen HS).  KJ Hong (Federal Way, Wash./Decatur HS/Shoreline CC) added 15 points while Cody Peters (Oak Harbor, Wash./Coupeville HS/Western Oregon Univ.)  came off the bench to earn the double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Saint Martin’s was led by 27 points from Evan Coulter, who earned nine of those points from the charity stripe.  Riley Carel added 14 while Ryan Rogers and Tyler Copp each chalked up 12 points in the win. After shooting 54.1% in the first half, the Saints shot 39.3% in the second half to finish at 47.7% for the game.

The Geoducks return to the counting portion of the schedule on Wednesday night as they host Northwest in the second game of a non-conference doubleheader that also features the Evergreen and NU women.  Tip with the Eagles is set for approximately 8 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia.

Box Score

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – After picking up a season opening win on Friday, the Evergreen Geoducks couldn’t make it two in a row, falling to the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack, 112-68, in a non-conference men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Host Thompson Rivers (2-0) took the lead just 18 seconds into the game on a basket by Josh Wolfram and the Wolfpack never looked back.  The Geoducks (1-1) fell behind by double-digits midway through the first quarter and just couldn’t get back into the game in the second quarter as TRU took a 52-34 lead into the halftime break.

The Wolfpack lead hit 20 with 6:42 left to play in the third quarter and continued to grow from there.  With TRU controlling the glass, the Geoducks managed just three second-chance points as they fell to 1-1 with the 112-68 loss.

Evergreen was led by 21 points from Kyle Calhoun (Seattle, Wash./Hazen HS/Marshalltown CC).  KJ Hong (Federal Way, Wash./Decatur HS/Shoreline CC)  while Michael Potter (Ridgefield, Wash./Ridgefield HS) finished with 12 points in the loss.  The Geoducks managed just 26 rebounds on the night, compared with 66 for Thompson Rivers.

TRU was led by 22 points and 16 points from Gerard Gore.  Josh Wolfram added 18 point while Brett Parker added 16 points on the win.  Troy Grant came off the bench to add 14 while Will Ondrik rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11.  The Wolfpack shot 56.6% on the afternoon, making 43-of-76 attempts.

The Geoducks are next in action on Nov. 5 when they take a much shorter trip across town to take on Saint Martin’s in an exhibition game.  Tip with the Saints is set for 7:30 p.m. at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash.

Box Score

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Senior Kyle Calhoun (Seattle, Wash./Hazen HS/Marshalltown CC) scored 34 and KJ Hong (Federal Way, Wash./Decatur HS/Shoreline CC) added 25 as the Evergreen Geoducks made 16 three-pointers en route to a 92-87 win over the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat in a non-conference men’s basketball game on Friday afternoon in Kamloops, British Columbia.

After Hong drained a three pointer to open the scoring, UBCO (0-1) went on a 10-3 run to take the lead with 6:10 to go in the first quarter but the Geoducks (1-0) fought back to allow the Heat just nine points the rest of the period as Evergreen held a 22-19 lead after the first quarter of the game that was played under FIBA rules.  UBCO retook the lead briefly in the second quarter but a 13-0 run put the Geoducks up by seven as Evergreen held a 47-40 lead heading into halftime.

The Geoducks nearly pushed the lead to double-digits in the third quarter as Evergreen was up by nine with 6:27 to go in the period but the Heat got hot at the right time to close the gap to just two points, 70-68, heading into the final quarter.

UBCO continued the run into the fourth quarter as the Heat retook the lead but the Geoducks never backed down, pulling ahead for good on a three-pointer by Hong with 3:57 left to play as Evergreen held on for the 92-87 win.

Calhoun scored his 34 points on 11-of-24 shooting, including eight-of-16 from behind the arc.  Hong was eight-of-15 on the afternoon, including six three-pointers, as he scored 25 for the Geoducks.  Sophomore Michael Potter (Ridgefield, Wash./Ridgefield HS) earned the double-double, scoring 14 points and bringing down 10 rebounds in the win.

UBCO was led by 14 points from James Lum.  Mike Zayonc and Greet Gill each had 12 while Landry Ndayitwayeko and Ed Dane Medi put up 11 to round out the Heat in double-digit scoring.  Medi added 10 rebounds off the bench to earn the double-double.

Evergreen hits the hardwood again on Friday afternoon as they take on host Thompson Rivers, beginning at 4 p.m. at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Box Score