BILLINGS, Mont. – After leading by a point at halftime, the Evergreen Geoducks ran out of gas in the second half, falling to the Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears, 88-71, in an NAIA men’s basketball game on Friday night at the Fortin Center in Billings, Mont.
The Geoducks (0-1), who shot 35.3% in the first half, actually improved from the field in the second half, making 40.0% of their shots (14-of-35) but Rocky Mountain (4-1) was nearly unstoppable in the second half, shooting an amazing 63.6% from the field (21-of-33) to collect the victory on their home floor.
Evergreen, who has shown early an ability to hit from the outside, made 12 three-pointers on the night, including five from Travis Wagner (Federal Way, Wash./Green River CC). The Geoducks were led by 25 points and 10 rebounds from Marice Tolliver (Tacoma, Wash./Lower Columbia College). Tyrell Stephens (Tacoma, Wash./Mount Tahoma HS) added 14 points in just under 34 minutes played while Wagner finished with 15 on the night.
Rocky Mountain was led by 19 points from forward Matt Fogarty. John Bayo came off the bench to add 17 while Kurtis Parson and Joel Barndt each chalked up 10. Barndt also brought down a game-high 12 rebounds as RMC outrebounded the Geoducks, 45-36, on the night.
The Geoducks will look to bounce back on Saturday when they take on Montana Western. Tip-off with the Bulldogs is set for 5:30 pm MST in Billings, Mont.
