OLYMPIA, Wash. – 33 points off 28 Evergreen Geoduck turnovers was enough to give the 10th-ranked Warner Pacific Knights a 91-60 win in a Cascade Conference men’s basketball game on Friday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

The Knights (19-5, 11-2 CCC) hit a three just eight seconds in to take the initial lead by the Geoducks (1-22, 0-14 CCC) quickly showed their nationally ranked foe that they came to play as well as Evergreen grabbed the lead a few times during the opening minutes.  Warner Pacific began to pull away towards the midpoint of the first period but it wasn’t until the 6:40 mark that the lead would hit double-digits following a Sean Gaines jumper that put WPC up, 35-45.  The Knights continued to push forward, taking at 39-33 lead into the break.

In the second half, Warner Pacific used their deeper bench to tire Evergreen as the WPC lead hit 21 with 12:35 still left to play and the Geoducks couldn’t find a way to break back into the game, despite five second-half three pointers.  The Knights turned the ball over just three times in the second half as they used the 91-60 win to move into a tie for second place with second-ranked Oregon Tech.

Evergreen was led by 17 points from Travis Wagner (Federal Way, Wash./Green River CC).  Patrick Lewis (Bremerton, Wash./Olympic College) added 15 points while Elzie Dickens (Seattle, Wash./Highline CC) collected the double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds on the night.

Warner Pacific was led by 20 points from William Sharp.  Doug Thomas and Stephen Harris each chipped in 13 points in the win while Biniam Tadele chalked up 11 points for the Knights.  The Knights picked up 40 of their 91 points in the paint, including 14 on the fast break.

In conjunction with the game, Evergreen teamed up with Hoops4Hoopers, a Portland-based charity that collects new and gently used shoes to distribute worldwide.  Geoduck fans came up big, donating 88 pairs of shoes with an estimated retail value of $2,160.

The Geoducks will be action again on Saturday night when they play host to Concordia.  Tip with the Cavaliers is set for 7:30pm.

Box Score