EVERETT — A hot-shooting Lane Titans squad squashed the NWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament hopes of the Peninsula College Pirates in an 82-68 Sweet 16 defeat against the Titans on Thursday at Everett Community College.
The loss ended the season for the Peninsula men who finished with a 16-11 record.
The Pirates struggled to score and to keep Lane off the scoreboard in the early going, falling behind 19-4 midway through the first half and trailing 38-18 at the break.
Lane knocked down eight first-half treys with point guard Jay Elmore particularly effective in draining five. The Titans eventually ended up shooting 13 of 27 from beyond the 3-point arc for the game with Elmore leading the way with 21 points on 7 of 10 3-point shooting.
Peninsula struggled to take care of the basketball in the first half, turning the ball over nine times.
The Pirates were much improved in the second half as Jaylin Reed scored all 20 of his points after the break and Rayshawn Harris added 16 of his game-high 25, but Peninsula would come no closer than 10 points down the stretch.
North Region teams Bellevue and Olympic, the latter coached by former Peninsula standout Ryley Callaghan, advanced to next weekend’s NWAC Final 4 along with Yakima Valley and Wenatchee Valley.
The Peninsula women’s basketball team played North Idaho in its first tournament game Saturday night after press deadline.
If the No. 1-seeded women win that game, they will next play Portland or Centralia at 5 p.m. today.
Lane 82, Peninsula 68
PC 18 50 — 68
Lane 38 44 — 82
Peninsula (68) — Harris 25, Reed 20, Sampson 9, Garcia 7, Hunter-Holiday 7, Williams Jr., Medlock, Dean, McCullough, Rodgers.
Lane (82) — Elmore 21, Crawford 16, Chatman 16, Lackey 12, Blythe 5, McAninch 5, Brown 3, Wallace 2, Marshall 2, McGarvey, Ford.
