PENDLETON — Walla Walla Community College turned on the jets for a 108-94 Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball victory at Blue Mountain Community College Saturday.
The Warriors ripped twine with 24 three-pointers, a school record, on 52 attempts. Dalton Thompson knocked down 8 of 21 attempts from behind the arc, while Caulin Bakalarski hit 7 of 13 and Gabe Porter 5 of 11.
“They played a triangle and 2 defense on Gabe Porter and Colin Bakalarski that left Dalton Thompson wide open,” said Warriors coach Jeff Reinland. “They didn’t really hold Gabe and Colin down.
“We got a lot of open looks.”
WWCC got up by 15 points early and were up 9 at half. BMCC cut the margin to two.
Then in two-and-a-half minutes the high octane Warrior offense got the lead to 18 and rolled to victory.
“They tried a pack in the zone and were kind of banking on us to miss the threes,” Reinland said.
Not all was peaches and cream for WWCC.
“We were a little impatient at times, and we should have shot the ball better,” Reinland said. “We can play better defense and have been working on it.”
Thompson fired in 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds on the night, while Bakalarski splashed in 25 and Gabe Porter tallied 21.
The Warriors had a 29-19 advantage in assists with Landon Radliff dishing out 12.
WWCC (14-4, 5-1 NWAC) leads the East Region and plays host to Treasure Valley (9-6, 2-2) Wednesday.
“It’s a big game for us,” Reinland said. “They’re just a bit behind us in league.”
