Box Score COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. – Starter Brett Blackstock and reserve Ry Paulsen hit six three-pointers each and combined for 48 points, leading the visiting Multnomah University Lions to an 82-72 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball win over the Walla Walla University Wolves in the first of a back-to-back series Thursday night here at Windemuth Court.
 
A layup and a three-pointer by Jacob Vargas provided the fuel for an early run that gave Walla Walla an 11-5 lead three minutes into the game.  A three by Blackstock, a layup by Jon Viles, and another trey by Blackstock put the Lions ahead 13-11 a minute later before a Dinesh Brown jumper at 15:28 produced a 13-13 tie, the only deadlock of the game.  Paulsen broke the tie with a triple at the 13:07 mark, and the Lions never trailed again. 
 
Paulsen hit another three to give Multnomah its first double-figure lead of the game at 31-20 with 7:54 to go in the opening half, and yet another to extend the margin to 13 at 39-26 at the 2:36 mark, their largest of the period.  Multnomah took a 39-29 advantage into the intermission.
 
Ben Grandle opened the second half with a downtowner for the Lions, who maintained a double-digit lead until the final two minutes of the game.  Their largest lead was 18 twice, at 55-37 on a Viles free throw at 15:02 and 60-42 on a Blackstock three at 11:21.  The Wolves fought back and cut the lead to six points at 75-69 on a free throw by Cameron Silver with 44 seconds left, but the Lions then hit seven of eight from the line (one by Viles, two by Grandle, and four by Darius Redrick) to close out the win.
 
--- By the Numbers:  Blackstock led all scorers with 28 points (9-15 from the field, 6-10 on threes) and Paulsen scored 20 (7-12 field goals, 6-11 on threes).  Grandle added 11 points and a team-leading eight rebounds, while Trey Fountain scored 10 points with game highs of seven assists and three steals.  Redrick contributed six assists as well.  The Lions shot .464 (26-56) from the floor, including .447 (17-38) on threes.
 
Michael Isotalo topped the Wolves with 15 points, Vargas and Brown chipped in with 11 apiece, and Silver added 10.  The Wolves were held to a .365 shooting percentage (27-764) and .286 (8-28) from behind the arc.  Brown grabbed eight boards as Walla Walla out-rebounded the Lions 48-37.  Roy Zavala and Alec Calloway had three assists each, and Isotalo made two steals.
 
Multnomah, snapping a seven-game losing skid, improved to 5-15 on the season and 2-9 in the conference.  Walla Walla fell to 5-16 overall and 1-10 in the league with its 10^th consecutive setback.
 
--- Next:  Multnomah and Walla Walla conclude their two-game CCC series Friday at 2:00 p.m.