Grant Ellison led the RiverHawks in scoring with 20 points, as Umpqua advanced to the Elite 8 in the NWAC Championship Tournament with a 75-58 victory over Bellevue Community College. Ellison was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line and chipped in with 8 rebounds to help the RiverHawks control the glass, out-rebounding the Bulldogs by a 50-39 margin.
Bellevue led 14-7 with nearly ten minutes left in the half, but the RiverHawks out-scored the Bulldogs 21-4 and lead 40-25 at the half. The Bulldogs were able to close the gap to just nine points on a single occasion, in the second half, but strong defense and clutch free-throw shooting kept the RiverHawks on top.
Darrin Gethers had 14 points off of the bench for the RiverHawks, followed by Jacob Danhoff and Timmy Thompson with 11 and Ethan Betts with 10 points. Danhoff led the RiverHawks with 12 rebounds.
With the victory, Umpqua moves to 19-9 on the season. They will face the winner of the South Puget Sound/Big Bend game for a trip to the Final 4. The game is set for Friday, March 10th at 4:00 pm.
