Spokane upsets No. 1 seed Lower Columbia in NWAC Tournament opener

From staff reports

EVERETT – Nerves of steel are beneficial this time of year.

Community Colleges of Spokane’s Jaron Williams knocked down a pair of free throws to take the lead with 5 seconds left, and the fourth-seeded Sasquatch held on in the final moments for a 64-63 win over No. 1 seed Lower Columbia in the Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament Thursday.

The win propelled CCS (18-9) to Friday’s quarterfinals. The Sasquatch will play No. 3 seed Bellevue, an 82-78 winner against second-seeded Umpqua, at 3 p.m. in Everett.

Ky-mani Pollard made 1 of 2 free throws with 37 seconds left to give Lower Columbia (19-7) a 63-60 advantage, but Williams countered quickly with a bucket at the other end to pull the Sasquatch within a point.

Jay Gilson made a steal with 16 seconds left, and the ball eventually found Williams, who was fouled with 5 seconds remaining.

After Williams made both free throws to give CCS the lead, the Red Devils’ Cole Hardy missed a jumper at the final buzzer.

Williams led the Sasquatch with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Kobe Reese added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Kaeleb Johnson scored 10 points.

Keylin Vance came off the bench to lead Lower Columbia with 16 points – 14 in the first half – and Kyle Gruhler scored 10.

Lower Columbia ended the first half on a 14-2 run to take a 38-26 lead into halftime, but CCS held the Red Devils to 9-for-27 shooting (33.3%) in the second half to fuel its comeback.

The Sasquatch made 15 of 33 shots (45.5%) after halftime.

Lower Columbia led 44-28 with 16 minutes to play, but the Sasquatch scored 24 of the game’s next 32 points to knot the score at 52 with a Gilson tip-in with 6:01 left.