Box Score OLYMPIA, Wash. – Led by Ben Grandle's career-high 36 points, including 10 three-pointers, the visiting Multnomah University Lions blasted the Evergreen State College Geoducks 100-82 Friday night here at the Costantino Recreation Center, keeping alive their hopes for a first-ever appearance in the Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball Tournament.
 
Coupled with Warner Pacific College's 88-77 win at Northwest University Friday, the Lions are 5-14 in the conference while Northwest, currently the eighth-place team, is 6-13.  A Lions' win at Northwest Saturday would leave the teams tied for the final tournament spot and 1-1 against each other.  The Lions have a win against Eastern Oregon and NU has a win over Southern Oregon, and as one of the tiebreakers is records against CCC teams in ascending order, Multnomah could secure the final berth if SOU finishes higher in the league standings that EOU.
 
Multnomah came out of the blocks sizzling from downtown to build a 24-11 lead six minutes into the game.  Of their first 13 field goal attempts, 12 of them were three-pointers – and the Lions connected on eight of them, with four by Grandle, two by Jon Viles, and one each by Max Upchurch and Brett Blackstock.  A 12-6 run, capped by a Dustin Meade three, trimmed the Lions' lead to seven at 30-23 with 11:16 left in the half, but the Geoducks would get no closer. 
 
A pair of threes by Ben Schneiders got the Lions back on track, and they twice took 18-point leads in the period, the last at 53-35 on a trey by Upchurch with 1:30 to go.  Multnomah led 55-39 at the break after shooting .514 (19-37) in the period, including .516 (16-31) on threes.  Evergreen was not that far behind in shooting percentage at .484 (15-31), but was only 3-of-11 on threes, and therein lay the difference.
 
Grandle hit a three at 15:35 in the second half to give Multnomah its first 20-point lead at 67-47, and the margin hit 21 on a Blackstock jumper that made it 74-53 with 13:23 left when the Geoducks began a comeback attempt.  A 12-2 run over the next six minutes, fueled by two baskets and a free throw by Malik Redmond, trimmed the Lions' lead to 11 at 76-65 with 7:31 to go, and it was still 11 at 81-70 with 6:39 left following a Quinton Whitfield free throw for ESC.
 
Grandle was not about to let the game get away, however, as he scored 11 points on a layup, two threes, and three free throws when fouled on a three-point attempt over the next five-and-a-half minutes, sparking a 16-4 Lions' outburst that salted the game away.  Ry Paulsen's three with 27 seconds left put Multnomah at the century mark for the third time this season.
 
--- By the Numbers:  Grandle connected on 11-of-15 from the field, 10-of-14 from downtown, and 4-of-6 free throws, and just missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds.  Blackstock was also 11-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-5 on threes en route to 26 points, and Darius Redrick added 11 points with five assists.  Multnomah shot .522 (35-67) for the game, including .500 (22-44) on threes, setting new season highs for threes made and three-point percentage.  Redrick and Viles had three steals each.
 
Evergreen, which shot .540 (34-63) for the game but only .214 (3-14) on threes, was led by Pat Ling with 15 points.  Kevin Clayton chimed in with 14, and Meade and Redmond had 11 apiece.  Ryan Quigley had a game-high 11 rebounds, while Ling handed out eight assists and made two steals.
 
Multnomah improved to 9-20 on the season and 5-14 in the conference with its third straight win, while Evergreen State fell to 5-23 overall and 4-15 in the league.
 
--- Quoting MU coach Curt Bickley: "Ben and Brett going 22-for-30 from the field, with 10 threes from Ben, is exactly what we needed.  Darius was outstanding at handling pressure, and a huge lift off the bench from Ben Schneiders.  Great night."
 
--- Next:  Multnomah closes its regular season Saturday with the critical CCC game at Northwest at 7:30 p.m. … Evergreen State hosts Warner Pacific in its final conference match Saturday, also at 7:30 p.m. … Both men's games will be preceded by women's CCC games at 5:30 p.m.