PORTLAND, Ore. –
Gibson Berryhill and
Justin Saunders combined to score 28 points, helping the College of Idaho to their most lopsided road victory at Warner Pacific in 28 years, stopping the Knights, 75-57, inside C.C. Perry Gymnasium.
The No. 2-ranked Yotes (18-2, 7-1 CCC) made 12 3-pointers and hit 50-percent of their field goal attempts in winning for the fourth-straight time at WPU – equaling their longest win streak in program history inside the Knights gym. It was the largest victory margin at WPU since a 130-71 victory during the 1990-91 season.
C of I never trailed, as
Jake Bruner canned a triple and
Keun Palu-Thompson converted a 3-point play in a 14-4 run over the first seven minutes of the contest. After the Knights (11-7, 3-5) cut the gap to 19-15 on a Corey Thomas 3-pointer – the lone made triple of the night for WPU – the Yotes countered with a 14-2, including two 3's from both Saunders and Berryhill.
Leading 41-25 at the break, the Yotes scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half, with a Palu-Thompson triple extending the lead to 22-points, with the margin staying above 15 points the remainder of the night.
Berryhill led a balanced scoring effort by the Coyotes with 16 points, with Saunders scoring 12. Palu-Thompson,
Nate Bruneel and
Connor Desaulniers each scored seven in the victory – with C of I forcing 20 WPU turnovers in a rematch of last season's Cascade Conference Tournament title game.
Collin Malcolm scoring 17 points with nine rebounds in the loss, with Thomas scoring nine – but the Knights made a woeful 1-of-16 from 3-point range.
C of I will put a 6-game win streak on the line tomorrow night at Multnomah, the top-scoring team in the NAIA Division II. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. (PT)
