by By Abby Wilson, WPU communications
PORTLAND |The Warner Pacific Knights dropped Saturday afternoon’s conference contest to the Eastern Oregon Mounties 64-84. The team moves to 4-5 (2-4 CCC).
The Rundown
The Knights came out composed against the high-pressure Mountaineers, keeping it a one-point ball game through the first six minutes of play, leading the EOU 15-14.
The Mounties closed out the first quarter on a 12-2 run, taking a 26-17 lead after the first ten.
The Warner Pacific steam began to wear off as Eastern Oregon crashed the boards for easy second chance points, building on the lead. Determined to fight, Warner Pacific found ways to close the gap to single-digits four different times in the quarter.
Dwindling the lead down to as little as nine with a Lynden Harry (Warm Springs/Yuchi) 21-footer before the Mounties attacked the tin, Eastern Oregon scored four points to close out the half and head into the locker room with a 13-point lead.
The Mountaineers came out of the break on a 10-4 run and extended their lead to as many as 20 at the 2:52 mark of the third quarter before the Knights responded with a 7-0 run of their own closing out the quarter.
Eastern Oregon’s Macie Elliot pulled up for a mid-range jumper with 1.6 left on the clock. The ball hopped around the rim before falling in at the buzzer as the Mountie bench erupted. With ten minutes to play, Warner Pacific trailed by 18.
Warner Pacific came out with a quick 5-0 run to start the fourth quarter before Eastern Oregon started raining down three’s. In the fourth quarter alone, each team sank four 21-footers. The tight pressured defense of Eastern Oregon proved too difficult for the Knights and the Mounties head back east with a 20-point victory and a 2-0 record on the weekend.
The Knights shot 45.8% from deep on the day and 41% from the field. Eastern Oregon dominated the boards, grabbing 51 on the day. The Knights’ defense managed to force 16 Mountie turnovers.
Courtney Jackson led all scorers with 23 points on the day, shooting 6-11 from 3-point land. The junior from Utah snagged five boards. Lynden Harry contributed 13 points of her own while Gabby Bruno put up 12 and five.
