Bearcats Defeat Willamette Alumni, 98-70
SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's basketball team defeated the Willamette Alumni, 98-70, on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Cone Field House. The Bearcats were led by transfer student Elliot Babcock-Krenk (Sr., Wing, Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS/Humboldt State Univ.) with 21 points. The Alumni team was paced by Ryan Meehan, who scored 18 points.
Babcock-Krenk Scores 21 Points; Meehan Leads Alums with 18
SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's basketball team defeated the Willamette Alumni, 98-70, on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Cone Field House. The Bearcats were led by transfer student Elliot Babcock-Krenk (Sr., Wing, Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS/Humboldt State Univ.) with 21 points. The Alumni team was paced by Ryan Meehan, who scored 18 points.
Babcock-Krenk was one of four current Bearcats to reach double-digit scoring against the Alumni. Avery Manu (Jr., Wing, Pocatello, ID/Highland HS) produced 14 points, while Kyle McNally (So., Post, Salem, OR/Sprague HS) contributed 12 points and Noah Ripley (Jr., Post, Springfield, OR/Springfield HS) added 11 points. Overall, a total of 15 players saw action for the Bearcats.
Three members of the Alumni team scored in double digits. Meehan was followed on the scoring chart by Marcus Holmes, who tallied 15 points. Joe Carmichael earned 11 points for the Alumni.
Willamette's varsity team shot 52.5% from the field (21 of 40), while hitting 13 of 29 three-pointers (13 of 29). The Bearcats sank 17 of 25 free throws (68.0%) and achieved a 39-29 rebounding margin.
Babcock-Krenk hauled down six rebounds, while Sean Dart (Sr., Post, Bend, OR/Mountain View HS/Eastern Oregon Univ.) and Rich Vasquez (Jr., Post, Phoenix, AZ/Paradise Valley HS/Mesa CC) each grabbed five boards. Trevor Bos (Jr., G, Lakewood, CA/St. John Bosco HS) supplied four assists.
The Alumni were successful on 51.4% of their field goals (18 of 35) and made 7 of 21 three-point shots (33.3%). They connected on 13 of 18 free throws (72.2%). Carmichael, Jason Luchterhand, Jacob Baran led the Alumni with four rebounds each.
Both teams committed 20 turnovers, with the Bearcats accumulating 15 steals and the Alumni recording 14 steals. Holmes led all players with four steals for the Alumni during the game, while Bos claimed three steals for the Bearcats.
The list of players for the Alumni included:
Jacob Baran
Joe Carmichael
Corey Costantino
Marcus Holmes
Robbie Kunke
Cory Lowe
Jason Luchterhand
Ryan Meehan
Brian Newton
John Olinger
Geoff Rice
Miles Sandgathe
Willamette will play an exhibition game at the University of Utah on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by the PAC-12 Network.
The Bearcats will open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 16, when they will take on the University of La Verne at the NWC Tipoff Classic in Portland, Ore., starting at 5 p.m. (PST).
The Tipoff Classic will be co-hosted by several Northwest Conference teams. Two of the games will be played at Cone Field House on Saturday, Nov. 17, with Lewis & Clark facing Colorado College at 5 p.m. (PST) and Willamette taking on Hardin-Simmons University (Texas) at 7 p.m.
Noah Ripley scored 11 points for the Bearcats in just 14 minutes of playing time.