The Pioneer men's basketball team pulled off a 73-61 win (boxscore) against
the Evergreen State Geoducks on Tuesday, November 25, at Pamplin
Sports Center.
The Pioneers were off to a strong start in the first half, as they
went into halftime ahead 33-27. Despite shooting just 32.4% from
the field to the Geoducks' 38.7%, the Pioneers were able to
maintain the lead for the first 20 minutes of the game.
In the second half, the Geoducks went on an offensive rampage,
attacking the Pioneer defense relentlessly. With the
Pioneers' six point lead deteriorating quickly, Evergreen
capitalized on their only opportunity to take over. The
Geoducks went on a 21-2 run in the first six minutes of the
half.
At the 14:00 mark, however, three key freshman, James Hollins
(Fresh., Phoenix, Ariz.), Drake Green (Fresh., Oakland, Calif.),
and James Edwards (Fresh., Carmichael, Calif.), launched a Pioneer
comeback. The Pioneers slowly began chipping away at the Geoducks
19 point second half lead. By 8:24, the Pioneers were within
two points, down just 51-49. A Tyson Papenfuss (Sr., Clackamas,
Ore.) jumpshot at 7:20 tied the score for the first time in the
second half. On the Pioneers' next trip down on offense,
Hollins hit a three from the baseline corner just in front of the
L&C bench to get all of the Pioneer fans on their feet. It was
a three pointer by Josh Kollasch that secured the lead at 10
points, 65-55. After the 4:00 mark, the Geoducks never got closer
than nine, and began fouling at the 2:00 mark in hopes to gain
possession on a miss. But the Pioneers were solid from the free
throw line, going 18-23 on the night.
Four players scored double-digits for the Pioneer offense, led by
Tyson Papenfuss with 19 points. James Hollins and Drake Green both
added 16 points. Josh Kollasch (Jr., Tucson, Ariz.) earned his
first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10
rebounds.
With the victory the Pioneers improve to 3-1 on the season. They
return to play on Saturday, November 29, when they host Portland
Bible at 7:00 pm.
