South Sound Sports

Posted 9:16 AM by Emmett
Eleventh-Ranked Clams needs record binge to overcome Thunderbirds, 86-82

OLYMPIA – The higher a team rises in the national rankings, the harder an upset loss is to take and The Evergreen State College men’s basketball team looked into that abyss on Tuesday night, before riding a school-record 43 points by Quincy Wilder to an 86-82 victory over visiting Cascade College.

Wilder had 23 by halftime and 20 more in the second half as the Geoducks (14-5 overall, 8-1 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference) pulled out to a seemingly comfortable 76-64 lead over the Thunderbirds (12-10, 4-5). But Cascade scrapped back and tied it at 80-80 on two of Matt Evers team-high 28 points.

Wilder came right back with a 12-foot jumper in the lane to give Evergreen the lead for good, but not before more than a few fingernails were chewed among the Geoduck faithful. Will Walker, the T-Bird guard who tallied 26 points on the night, fouled Andre Stewart three times in the span of five seconds to finally put Evergreen into the bonus.

Stewart, who finished with 13 points, missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Cascade could do little with the opportunity and Stewart ultimately iced the game with a pair of free throws seven seconds before the end.

The 43 points by Wilder, a 6-3 senior from Tacoma who last played at the University of Southern California two years ago, edged the 42 point mark established by Stewart in a 98-94 win at Warner Pacific College last February. He hit 19 of 29 shots from the field, three of them three pointers, and had two free throws. Wilder also led Evergreen with 10 rebounds and had two assists and four steals.

Other than Wilder and Stewart, no Geoduck was in double figures, but Mike Parker, the 6-6 junior transfer from Pierce CC, had a nice all-around game with eight points, three blocked shots and four steals.

Matt Greenleaf followed Evers and Walker in the Thunderbirds scoring with 16 points.

Evergreen, leading the CCC by a game and one-half over idle Western Baptist College and Oregon Tech, hosts Southern Oregon University on Friday night at 7:30, followed by a showdown with #14 Oregon Tech on Saturday night at 7:30.