MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES: With a potential Cascade Collegiate Conference playoff berth on the line, The Evergreen State College travels to Portland, Ore., this weekend to play its final two regular season contests. The Geoducks play at Warner Pacific on Friday and against Multnomah on Saturday, with tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m. for both.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: Evergreen fans unable to attend Geoducks games, whether at home or on the road, can follow the action via live stats and/or a live video stream by clicking on the stats and video links under the Events tab on www.gogeoducks.com. John Hammargren provides the play-by-play for all Evergreen home basketball games.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Evergreen is 7-17 overall and 4-14 in the conference standings, which puts it in ninth place, two games behind Warner Pacific. The Geoducks, nonetheless, are still in the hunt for the last of eight Cascade Collegiate Conference postseason tournament berths. To earn a tournament berth, the Geoducks must win their two remaining regular season games - Evergreen is 1-10 on the road this season - while Warner Pacific loses its last two. Warner Pacific would wrap up the final berth and eliminate Evergreen by defeating the Geoducks on Friday night. If Evergreen wins on Friday, it will come down to the Saturday contests – Geoducks at Multnomah and Warner Pacific hosting Northwest University. Should Evergreen and Warner Pac both finish 6-12 in the conference, the Geoducks would get the final playoff berth by virtue of beating the Knights twice during the regular season. The CCC tournament begins with quarterfinal round action on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

GEODUCKS BY THE NUMBERS: Evergreen has been solid in the rebounding category all season and leads its opponents by three total boards through 24 games. In terms of scoring, the Geoducks average 76.9 points per game while allowing 83.4. Senior guard Taylor Drey is the scoring leader with 16.5 points per game, followed by junior post Shawn Spencer at 13.3. Both Spencer at 58 percent, and sophomore post Ryan Quigley at 52 percent, rank among the conference leaders in field goal shooting percentage. Quigley and Spencer have been switching back and forth in terms of Evergreen's top rebounder, Spencer at 6.3 per game and Quigley at 6.2. Senior point guard Jarrick Mitchell is the conference leader - and is ranked eighth in NAIA Division II men's basketball - with an average of 5.9 assists per game. The team's other starter, sophomore forward Dalton Groenewold, averages 8.5 points and 4.6 boards per contest.

RECORD BREAKER: Jarrick Mitchell set the Evergreen men's basketball program record for most assists in a season with his fifth of six assists last Sunday afternoon against Walla Walla. He has 142 assists this season and eclipsed the record 140 established by Karriem Fielding during the 2003-04 season. In addition, Mitchell will set a new program record for assists per game, that number to be determined at the conclusion of the season.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC: The Knights, 10-16 overall and 6-12 in the conference, are in the driver's seat regarding the final conference postseason tournament berth. They hold a two-game lead over the Geoducks and will make the tournament with either a win or an Evergreen loss, and they play on their home court while the Geoducks travel. When the teams faced off during the first week of the conference season back in early December, Division I transfer Bryce White was the Warner Pacific player to watch. An injury has put him out of commission, however, and that has brought forward Collin Malcolm and guard De'Corrius Sampson-Young to the fore. Malcolm averages 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds and shoots 51 percent from the floor, while Sampson-Young contributes 12.2 points per game while shooting 42 percent from beyond the three-point line.

FIRST MEETING: Taylor Drey pulled up and drilled a 30-footer with 1.1 seconds remaining to give Evergreen a thrilling 87-85 win over the visiting Knights on Dec. 10. Drey finished with 29 points, followed by Shawn Spencer with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

RECENT RESULTS: Evergreen broke a string of 12 consecutive Warner Pacific wins in the series with the December win over the Knights.

ABOUT MULTNOMAH: The Lions, who host Northwest University on Friday night, are 6-22 overall and 2-16 in the conference. They do, however, have one the league's top players in junior guard Darius Redrick, who averages 18.4 points and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 83 percent from the free throw line. Other top players include guard Ben Grandle, who averages 13.0 points and three three-point baskets per game, forward Moe Keita and his 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per contest, and center Thomas Simien, who shoots 56 percent from the field. The Lions score 84.3 points per game but have the league's worst scoring defense, allowing 96.6 per contest, and they like to hoist it up from long range, averaging 34 three-point attempts per game (Evergreen averages 20.4).

LAST YEAR: Evergreen and Multnomah both won on the other's home floor during the 2015-16 season, the Geoducks opening the conference season with a 97-84 victory in Portland and the Lions taking a season-ending 92-91 victory in Olympia on Ben Grandle's two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.

EVERGREEN 96, WALLA WALLA 69: Taylor Drey scored 25 points – 20 in the first half – and Jarrick Mitchell established a new program record for assists in a season as the Geoducks beat Walla Walla, 96-69, last Sunday afternoon inside Costantino Recreation Center. Drey, Mitchell and fellow senior Jonathan Jack-Nixon, who finished with 13 points and five assists, were honored prior to the game.