It was all about team.
Thus the team beat a great team in the Sweet 16 round of the NWAC Men's Basketball Championship Thursday March 9th at Everett Community College.
The Lower Columbia Red Devils had five players score in double figures and a sixth who scored all of his points in the second half in an 81-65 victory over defending champion Spokane.
The talented Sasquatch were eliminated with the loss.
Keun Palu-Thompson shook off a tough first half to end up with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Head coach Jim Roffler made some masterful moves moving Palu-Thompson to the middle of the Bigfoot zone and then got a great outing from freshman guard Brandon Cotton.
Cotton scored 10 points and dished off five assists in his first college playoff game.
Elijah Cotton-Welch had an incredible game with a double-double of 12 points and 10 big rebounds.
Devin Johnson had 13 points including a thunderous dunk. But it was his team play with six assists that stood out.
Spencer Sweet was shutout at halftime, but he responded with eight big second half points. He also pulled five boards.
Marcus Lord was also very solid with 12 points and five rebounds. Lord impressed with two big threes and three assists.
Nate Solomon also had two big threes and ended up with six points.
Garrett Hull hit a mid-court three at the halftime buzzer to give Spokane a 42-38 lead. The Devils also went down 10 points in the second half when they hit the switch and played tremendous team ball.
Levi Taylor led Bigfoot with 18 points and Hull had 17. Those two tremendous players ended their NWAC careers with an NWAC title and a Sweet 16 appearance.
But it's the Devils who play on. LCC will take on Mt. Hood Friday March 10th at 8 pm in the Elite Eight round. The winner will move on to the Final Four the following weekend, also at Everett.
You can watch the game live on theNWAC website: nwacsports.org. The game can also be heard live on radio at FM 101.5 The Wave in the Longview-Kelso area. That broadcast can also be heard on the internet at 1015thewave.com or klog.com.
