Geoducks Take the Air Out in 51-31 Mountaineer Victory

1.27.07

With just seven players in uniform, Evergreen (7-16) decided if they wanted to win they were going to have to play defense with their offense. For much of the first half their plan was working until the Mountaineers (17-4) grabbed control of the game and never looked back, winning their sixth straight conference match up 51-31.

The #18 Mountaineers held The Evergreen State College to their lowest point total of the season. While the Geoducks were playing very deliberately on offense Eastern also held them to 43 percent (13-30) shooting from the floor and only 14 percent from behind the arc.  TESC had just 2 assists and a whopping 26 turnovers.  Meanwhile EOU made the most of their opportunities, shooting 52 percent (21-40) for the game.

Senior Vernon Cropper led a balanced attack with a game-high 10 points on 4-6 shooting, Cropper also tossed in 2 of his 3 shots from behind the arc. Jeremy Templeton scored 8 points and added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Meanwhile, Mark Carollo made his much anticipated return to action after missing six games with a badly sprained ankle. The junior scored 7 points in his 17 minutes off the bench. Mark's classmate Nick Finley scored just 2 points but handed out 3 assists, pulled down a team-high 4 rebounds and added a game-high 5 steals.

The Mountaineers will play an important Cascade Conference match up Saturday night in Kirkland when they face Northwest University at 7:30pm.