Spokane Hangs on for Overtime Victory at Walla Walla
Homecourt woes grow for WWCC
The Warrior men suffer another NWAACC East loss at home, this time to Spokane in overtime, 86-82.
By ROY ELIA of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA — Home-court woes continued for the Walla Walla Community College men's basketball team Wednesday night.
Visiting Spokane tallied the first seven points of overtime and hung on for an 86-82 victory in NWAACC Eastern Region action in the Dietrich Dome.
The Sasquatch, No. 4 in the latest NWAACC coaches poll, improved to 5-1 in league and 13-4 overall. Spokane currently holds sole possession of first place in the Eastern Region — one-half game up on Yakima Valley, which can move back into a tie for the top spot with a win at Blue Mountain on Friday night.
Walla Walla — which has dropped seven of its last 10 games — slipped to 3-3 in the region and 10-8 overall. All three of Walla Walla's league losses have occurred at home.
Spokane claimed a 7-0 lead by the 18:42 mark of the first half and opened up its advantage to double figures in the latter stages of the period.
A layin by Kevin Bond with 5:52 left put the Sasquatch up 25-13.
A 3-point goal by Zach Humphrey — one of four he had in the game — gave Spokane a 15-point bulge, 28-13, with 4:51 to go.
Derek Gianukakis added a two-point basket at the 4:26 mark to lift the Sasquatch to a 30-13 lead. The 17-point spread was Spokane's largest of the game.
"They played well," Walla Walla coach Jeff Reinland said. "They got a lot of offensive rebounds (10 in the first half)."
"We came out focused," Spokane coach Clint Hull said. "Walla Walla is as hard a team to guard as anyone in the league. We had to be dialed in to give ourselves a chance."
The Warriors ended the half with a 15-4 run. Ray Stout sank two free throws with 2:53 remaining to end the initial portion of the surge and bring WWCC within 10, 30-20.
Cameron Stevenson — who led WWCC with 21 points — drained a pair of freebies with 1.6 seconds on the clock to conclude the spurt and cut the Warriors' deficit to six, 34-28, at halftime.
"We gave up too many second-chance points," Hull said. "There were three or four possessions in a row where we gave up offensive rebounds and they were able to score."
Walla Walla continued its move and took a brief 49-48 edge early in the second half.
With the score knotted at 50-50, Stevenson knocked down a 3 at the 11:04 mark to give the lead back to the Warriors.
Following a Spokane deuce, guard Tyler Bollman came through from downtown to give WWCC a four-point cushion, 56-52.
Reserve post Emery Henning — who followed Stevenson with 20 points — increased the Warrior lead to five in two instances. He converted a three-point play with 9:50 left to make it a 59-54 game and converted a low-block opportunity moments later to re-establish a five-point lead for Walla Walla, 61-56.
Spokane responded with a 10-2 run. Back-to-back buckets by post Griffon Jones — who came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points — put the Sasquatch in charge, 66-63.
"Every time we had a chance (to stretch the lead), we screwed up," Reinland said. "We turned the ball over, we missed shots. We just didn't get it done."
The Sasquatch maintained the lead until Stevenson evened the score at 73-73 on a three-point play with 31.3 seconds left.
Spokane had a final chance to win the game in regulation, but Humphrey's 3-point attempt from the right wing curled out as the buzzer sounded.
Jones delivered two buckets in the low post and Humphrey nailed a 3 in the first minute and change of the overtime session to give Spokane an 80-73 lead.
"We were able to re-establish the inside-out presence and it worked out pretty well," Hull said.
The Warriors closed the gap to two, 82-80, on a Bollman 3 with 1:06 to play.
But on the next Spokane possession, Luke Clift drove down the final nail in the Warriors' coffin — a jumper from the left wing as the 35-second shot clock expired.
"That (pushed) it to a two-possession game, so they had to change the way they did things," Hull said.
"They outplayed us in the overtime," Reinland said.
Gianukakis and Humphrey ended up with 14 points apiece and Damal Neil added 12 for Spokane.
Stout had a double-double — 19 points and 10 rebounds — while Bollman chipped in with 11 for the Warriors.
Walla Walla ends the first round of league play on Saturday at Big Bend. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
SPOKANE (86) — Gianukakis 5-8 2-2 14, Cameron 0-4 0-0 0, Pynch 3-5 2-4 8, Ingebritsen 1-6 0-0 2, Clift 3-5 0-0 7, Humphrey 4-9 2-3 14, Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, Neil 6-15 0-2 12, Jones 9-12 5-7 23, Bond 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 34-73 11-18 86.
WWCC (82) — Roll 0-0 0-0 0, Bollman 4-11 0-0 11, Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Gardner 3-7 0-0 7, Fullerton 0-0 2-4 2, Van de Graaf 0-0 0-0 0, Stout 7-18 5-8 19, Searle 0-0 0-0 0, Stevenson 6-15 7-7 21, Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Henning 9-15 2-4 20. Totals 30-71 16-23 82.
Halftime score — Spokane 34, WWCC 28. End of regulation — Tied at 73. 3-point goals — Spokane 7-19 (Humphrey 4-7, Gianukakis 2-3, Clift 1-2, Cameron 0-1, Pynch 0-1, Bond 0-1, Ingebritsen 0-2, Johnson 0-2), WWCC 6-23 (Bollman 3-9, Stevenson 2-8, Gardner 1-3, Wright 0-1, Williams 0-2). Total fouls—Spokane 21, WWCC 16. Fouled out—Spokane (Cameron), WWCC (Gardner). Technical fouls—none. Rebounds— Spokane 47 (Gianukakis 10), WWCC 47 (Gardner 10, Stout 10). Turnovers—Spokane 11, WWCC 12. Assists— Spokane 11 (Cameron 9), WWCC 7 (Gardner 2, Stevenson 2, Wright 2).