Evergreen State men rally in 2nd half to hand Pacific Lutheran 2nd loss of season
Danny Powell added the exclamation point.
As time expired Friday night, The Evergreen State College junior hammered down a dunk to cap the Geoducks’ 93-83 victory over Pacific Lutheran University at TESC’s Constantino Recreation Center.
“The adrenaline was going,” Powell said. “We came back. So I kept going.”
Trailing by six points with 10 minutes, 21 seconds to play, Brock Otis opened up a 10-0 run for the Geoducks.
Brandon Lester — who led the Lutes with 23 points — netted a 3-pointer to tie it at 67 with 7:42 remaining, but PLU would never regain the lead.
The Geoducks (5-6) went on a 26-16 run to close out the victory.
Second-year Evergreen State coach Tim Malroy said the second-half adjustments to emphasize Alix Hernandez in the post and open up chances for Powell beyond the perimeter gave the Geoducks the edge.
“Those things, I think, gave us the burst to get ahead,” Malroy said.
Powell and Hernandez shared a game-high 30 points apiece for the Geoducks, while Otis added 17.
Hernandez broke loose with 18 points in the first half and was 11 of 17 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the free throw line.
“I’ve struggled a little bit all season, so I needed a breakout game,” he said. “Finally, I just did it, and once I got going, the more the game moved along, the better I felt.”
Hernandez solidified the win with four consecutive free throws down the stretch to give the Geoducks an 8-point lead with 26 seconds remaining.
Holding the Lutes to 40.6 percent from the floor in the second half proved pivotal.
“We struggled in that first half, and they shot an unbelievable percentage from (3-point range),” Malroy said. “I was hoping maybe they’d come back to earth a little bit.”
The Lutes (7-2) did come back to earth.
After shooting 69.2 percent from the perimeter in the first half — led by Dylan Foreman, who was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc and finished with 21 points — the Lutes were 2 of 12 from 3-point range in the second.
Kyle Sawtell couldn’t connect for a 3-pointer with nine seconds to play. Which is when Powell snagged the rebound and stuffed it at the other end.
Olympia natives Landon Rushton and Donald Terry scored a 3-pointer apiece in limited minutes for Evergreen State.
Fife High School grad Bryce Miller scored 16 points for Pacific Lutheran.
The Geoducks resume Cascade Collegiate Conference play Dec. 19, hosting Southern Oregon University.
Lauren Smith: 360-754-5473, @smithlm12
DEC. 19: Southern Oregon (9-2, 2-0 CCC) at Evergreen State (5-6, 2-1), 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Evergreen State men rally in 2nd half to hand Pacific Lutheran 2nd loss of season."