Warrior Men Bested by Spokane, Defeat Big Bend in Last Week's Action

Walla Walla, WA - The Walla Walla Community College Men's Basketball team faced a tough challenge last week, playing both their Wednesday and Saturday games on the road. The front end of the week included a trip to Spokane where the Warriors were defeated by the Sasquatch, 82-69. However, WWCC got right back to work and rebounded on Saturday afternoon, knocking off Big Bend in Moses Lake, 90-87. With the split week, the Warriors sit at 11-12 overall and 3-5 in NWAC East play, good enough for 6th place in the standings as the schedule flips to the back half of in-region action.

Walla Walla 69 vs. Spokane 82 (Wednesday, January 28)

A slow shooting start for Walla Walla dug a hole that was too big to overcome against Spokane, resulting in an 82-69 loss. The Warriors were held to just 14/38 (36.8%) shooting in the first half of play, including only knocking down 1 of 11 attempted shots from 3-point range. The offense was much more efficient in the second half as WWCC would shoot 45.5% from the field, but they still couldn't get the 3-ball to go down, finishing the game 4/23 from deep. In the meantime, the Spokane offense had things clicking all game as the Sasquatch would finish the contest shooting over 50% from the field as a team.

Jackson Floyd was the leading point-scorer for Walla Walla, finishing the night with 20 points off the bench to go with 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. Three other Warriors were in double figures for the game: Hudson Floyd (16), Tanner Goldsmith (12), and Jake Curtis (10). Goldsmith added 12 rebounds to go with his 12 points, collecting his seventh double-double of the year.

Walla Walla 90 vs. Big Bend 87 (Saturday, January 31)

Walla Walla put together a strong defensive effort in the first half at Big Bend, earning them a narrow 2-point advantage at the halftime break. The Warriors would hold that advantage in what ended up being an offensive shootout in the second half where both teams scored 50+ points, on their way to a 90-87 win over the Vikings. Jake Curtis was the difference maker for WWCC, as Curtis would score 40 points off the bench, including 26 points in the second half, in what would be his biggest game of his career at Walla Walla Community College thus far. The freshman was 18/30 shooting from the field, 4/6 from the free throw line, and added 8 rebounds to his stats for the night. With the effort on Saturday, he is now averaging just under 11 points per game and shooting 50.8% on the season from the field. Tanner Goldsmith would play a strong supporting role in the game, scoring 18 points and collecting 10 rebounds for his second double-double in as many games, and two other Warriors would finish with 10+ points: Braden Sherrill (12) and Jackson Floyd (11).

What's next?

The Warriors get a quick midweek break this week with no game scheduled for Wednesday, before hitting the hardwood again on Saturday when they host Blue Mountain. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 PM on Saturday afternoon.