EUGENE, Ore. – A dozen three-pointers weren’t enough for the Evergreen Geoducks to overcome the hot-shooting Northwest Christian Beacons, falling 96-77 in a Cascade Conference men’s basketball game on Tuesday night at Morse Event Center in Eugene, Ore.
The Geoducks (1-12, 0-3 CCC) controlled things early as Mike DeRosier (Puyallup, Wash./South Puget Sound CC) scored eight of the first 10 points for Evergreen. Northwest Christian (7-7, 1-2 CCC) eventually took control towards the midpoint of the half, pushing the lead into double-digits with 6:58 left to play with a 13-0 run. Evergreen managed to get the lead back into single-digits heading into the break, trailing 42-34.
In the second half, the Geoducks continued to stroke it from outside the arc but the Beacons countered with a powerful offense that saw them collect 36 of their 54 second-half points in the paint. After NCU pushed the lead back into the teams, Evergreen was able to battle back within seven but a 20-8 run over the remaining five minutes gave the Beacons the 96-77 win.
Evergreen was led by 19 points from senior forward Marice Tolliver (Tacoma, Wash./Lower Columbia College), also adding eight assists on the night. Travis Wagner (Federal Way, Wash./Green River CC) added 15 points while DeRosier finished with 14 on the night. Larry Green (Seattle, Wash./Grays Harbor College) added 12 while Elzie Dickens (Seattle, Wash./Highline CC) chipped in 10 points.
Northwest Christian was led by 22 points and nine rebounds from Jordan Buhler. Travis Pacos chalked up 21 in the win while Brian Hampton put up 15 on the night. Brody McGowan came off the bench to add 14 points on perfect seven-of-seven shooting. The Beacons held a 45-35 advantage rebounding to keep possession of the rock.
The Geoducks will be back in action on Dec. 29 when they play host to Eastern Oregon. Tip with the Mountaineers is set for 7:30 pm at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.
