Box Score OLYMPIA – The Evergreen State College rallied from a 21-point second half deficit to pull within five points, but eventually No. 14-ranked Concordia pulled away to garner an 88-74 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball victory on Friday night at CRC Gymnasium.

The Cavaliers improved their record to 15-3, including a 6-2 mark in the conference, while the Geoducks suffered their seventh consecutive defeat in falling to 3-12 overall and 0-8 in the CCC.

On paper the contest figured to be a mismatch, and for portions of the game the Cavaliers made it exactly that. Despite being significantly undersized, however, the Geoducks would not be outhustled and they used that effort to make a game of it in the second half.

"I never question our effort in any game, even the ones that haven't gone our way or been even more of a blowout," Evergreen head coach Tim Malroy said. "The guys, they understand what we want to do and they try to do it to the best of their ability, every single guy, every single second they're on the floor. We're going to break through, it's going to happen. I'm incredibly proud of these guys to fight the way that they do against the No. 14-ranked team in the country."

Jordan Dam gave the hosts their only lead of the night in the first 20 seconds, securing a rebound and driving the length of the floor to finish on the other end. Concordia soon had its first 10-point advantage, 14-4, just 5 1/2 minutes into the contest, and it led 45-28 at the half.

The Concordia advantage was stretched to 21 points in the first 25 seconds of the final period, but the Geoducks refused to cave. They eventually closed their deficit to 60-55 with 9:41 remaining following a pair of free throws by Landon Rushton, but a 14-point run gave the Cavs an insurmountable 19-point bulge with 6:00 left to play.

Evergreen got its deficit under 10 points one final time with about three minutes left, but the Cavaliers closed it out for the victory.

Alix Hernandez had a huge game for the Geoducks with 22 points, five rebounds and eight assists, all team highs. Brock Otis was the only other Evergreen player in double figures with 16 points, and he finished with five steals, one of which led to a breakaway dunk in the second half.

The Geoducks shot 48 percent from the field but managed just 24 rebounds against the Cavaliers, whose height dominance led to 43 boards.

Esvan Middleton, a 6-7 senior, recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and he added five assists for the Cavaliers, who ended up with five players in double figures. Justyn Searle, a 6-10 senior, led his team with 19 points and he added nine rebounds. Tyler Velasquez scored 15 points, Anthony Holton 14 and Thomas Pierce 12 for the winners. The Cavs shot 52 percent from the field.

Evergreen returns to conference action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when it hosts No. 21-ranked Warner Pacific at CRC Gymnasium.