The Umpqua RiverHawk men's basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as they defeated the South Puget Sound Clippers by a score of 66-53. The RiverHawks started hot by attacking the zone defense of the Clippers while playing a stifling defense keeping the Clippers at 7 points for close to 5 minutes.
Umpqua went into halftime leading the Clippers 38-19, shooting 50% for the half. Darrin Gethers (UCC) led the charge with 9 points. Umpqua held the Clippers to just 21% shooting for the half.
The Clippers made a run in the second half to cut the lead to 9 at the 6:45 mark. Their offense was spurred on by forcing turnovers with their half-court trapping defense.
UCC though, continued their staunch defense forcing the Clippers into critical turnovers and holding the SPSCC leading scorer Dez Stoudamire to five points all in the second-half.
The RiverHawks had balanced scoring with Gethers and Daniel Reno scoring 12 points respectively while Grant Ellison added another 11.
UCC shot 87% at the free throw line.
South Puget Sound was led in scoring by Luke Chavez with 15. SPSCC shot 29.5% from the field and 11% from the 3-point line.
Umpqua will take on the Tacoma Community College Titans in the Final Four next Saturday at 6pm.
