Box Score LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Evergreen State College pushed No. 12-ranked Eastern Oregon for a full 40 minutes on Friday night but ended up falling to the Mountaineers by an 88-80 score in Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball action inside Quinn Coliseum.
Tonight's result marked the second time this season that the Geoducks (5-16 overall, 2-12 CCC) put a scare into nationally ranked Eastern Oregon. But much like they did when they held on for a 98-92 win on New Year's Eve night in Olympia, the Mountaineers (17-5, 10-3) made a few more plays down the stretch, this time scoring 10 unanswered points late in the second half to turn a two-point deficit into an eight-point lead. They then held off the Geoducks (5-16, 2-12), who had the ball trailing by four points inside the final 20 seconds, by getting a steal, scoring a layup and later adding two game-clinching free throws.
The contest was close throughout with six ties and 12 lead changes. The Geoducks led by as many as eight points, that coming at 33-25 on a
Ryan Quigley jumper with 4:32 to play in the first half. Eastern Oregon's largest advantage was 10 points, 59-49, with 13:27 left in the game.
Taylor Drey broke out of a recent shooting slump, going 8-for-14 overall, including 3-for-6 from three-point range, to lead Evergreen with 21 points.
Shawn Spencer, who missed the last two games because of illness, scored 13 points and tied
Jonathan Jack-Nixon for team-high rebounding honors with six.
Dustin Meade scored 12 points off of the bench and
Jarrick Mitchell tallied 11 points for the Geoducks, who shot 46 percent overall (33-for-72).
Kentrell Washington led the way for the hosts with 23 points, including 9-for-9 from the foul line, followed by Max McCullough with 16, Austin Winegar with 12 and Austin Strock with 11. The conference's leading scorer, Bryan McGriff, was held 12 points under his season average in scoring nine points, but he did grab a game-high 12 rebounds.
Eastern Oregon, which shot 41 percent overall (28-for-69), took more than half of its shots from three-point range, going 14-for-35.
Evergreen returns to action at 7:30 p.m. (MST) Saturday when it plays College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho.
