Willamette Surges Past Carroll, 79-71, for Third Place at Capital City Classic

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University pulled away from a 34-34 halftime tie by opening the second half with an 18-1 run, as the Bearcats defeated the Fighting Saints of Carroll College (Mont.), 79-71, in the third place game of the Capital City Classic at Corban University. Willamette led 52-35 following its big run and remained in front the rest of the way.

WU, which competes in NAIA Division III, improved to 2-2 on the season. Carroll, a member of NAIA Division I, dropped to 0-7.

The key run by Willamette began with 14 unanswered points. Jake Hollifield sank a free throw for Carroll at the 14:32 mark, before the Bearcats added four additional points.

Overall, the run lasted the first 6:26 of the second half, and included eight points by Elliot Babcock-Krenk (Sr., Wing, Lake Oswego, Lake Oswego HS/Humboldt State Univ.), four points by Kyle McNally (So., Post, Salem, OR/Sprague HS) and two points each from four other players.

For the game, the Bearcats were led by Sean Dart (Sr., Post, Bend, OR/Mountain View HS/Eastern Oregon Univ.), who scored 12 points and earned 14 rebounds. Babcock-Krenk provided WU with 16 points, while Terrell Malley (Sr., G, Portland, OR/Roosevelt HS) supplied 13 points.

Trevor Bos (Sr., G, Lakewood, CA/St. John Bosco HS) added 11 points and five assists for the Bearcats. Willamette shot 56.3% from the field (27 of 48), including 10 of 20 on 3-pointers.

Carroll shot 46.6% (27 of 58) and hit 8 of 15 three-pointers (8 of 15). The Fighting Saints were led by Ben Cutler with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Brett Ball scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Nick Jones provided nine points and six assists.

Willamette gained an edge at the free throw line, where the Bearcats sank 15 of 23 attempts (65.2%). Carroll was just 9 of 17 (52.9%) at the line. The Bearcats also held a 34-29 rebounding margin.

The Fighting Saints scored the first basket of the game, but Willamette registered 11 consecutive points to build a nine-point lead.

Carroll pulled within 16-12 on a layup from Ball at the 8:41 mark. The Bearcats held another four-point margin, 21-17, with 5:25 remaining in the half, before going on an 8-2 run for a 29-19 advantage with 3:48 left.

A 10-0 run by Carroll, including a 3-pointer each by Cutler and a 3-pointer by Jones, tied the score 29-29 with 1:37 to play before the intermission. The teams were tied again at 31-31, but Cutler tacked on a 3-pointer with 16 seconds on the clock. Malley responded by sinking a 3-pointer for Willamette as the half ended.

The Bearcats eventually took a 62-42 advantage in the second half following a 3-pointer with 9:28 remaining. Carroll threatened to stage a comeback in the final 6:37, as the Fighting Saints used a 10-1 run to reduce WU's lead from 18 points to 71-62 at the 4:52 mark.

Willamette regained control with a 5-0 run that included two free throws by Bos, one charity shot by Babcock-Krenk and two free throws by Malley. WU led 76-62 with 3:18 left.

Dart from Willamette and Jones from Carroll were named to the All-Tournament Team. Also selected to the All-Tournament Team were Andy Avgi and Jordan Wiley from Western Oregon University, along with Marcus Butler of Corban.

Avgi was chosen as the Most Valuable Player after Western Oregon defeated Corban, 74-61, in the championship game.

Up next for WU is a two-game road trip to take on Montana Institute of Technology on Friday, Nov. 30 and Rocky Mountain College on Saturday, Dec. 1. Game time at Montana Tech is slated for 7 p.m. MST/6 p.m. PST, while the game at Rocky Mountain is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. MST/6:30 p.m. PST.