COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. — Soren Dalan had 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, but the Walla Walla Men's Basketball team dropped a close contest to Northwest (Wash.) 80-71 in a Cascade Conference game on Saturday night.

Dalan battled inside all night long and brought in 12 defensive rebounds and five offensive boards. The junior finished three rebounds shy of the single-game record by a Walla Walla player since the Wolves joined the NAIA in 2009 set by KiAndre Gaddy in 2020. The double-double was the 19th in the big man's career with Walla Walla, second most in school history behind Gaddy's 25.

The Wolves are now 0-16 overall and 0-10 in conference, the Eagles improve to 6-12 on the season and are now tied with Evergreen State for the eighth CCC playoff spot with a record of 3-7 in conference play.

Reese Snellman had 15 points and five assists for the Wolves. Jordan Jackson finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Jordany Fils-Aime added 11 points and Chike Ezeonu had eight points and seven boards.

Walla Walla outrebounded Northwest 45-42 and had 36 points in the paint. The Wolves scored 10 points off 10 forced turnovers and had 14 fast break points. WWU struggled from beyond the arc with a 4-of-15 (26.7%) night, but made 12-of-15 free throws in the second half.

Andrew Iyamah led Northwest with 18 points and nine rebounds. Logan Stempniak added 17 points while Lucius Fox and Rashid Potter finished with 10 points each.

The Eagles scored 14 points off 15 forced turnovers, Christian Watkins led NU with four steals. Northwest shot more attempts from beyond the arc (37), than inside the arc (33) on the night and made 11 of them.

The visitors led for most of the first half, and as much as nine, before Jackson scored on a fast break and gave Walla Walla its first lead, 34-33 with 2:23 remaining in the half. The Wolves last led with 11:31 to go on a fast break bucket by Fils-Aime after he stole the ball from Watkins. Northwest would take the lead for good with 9:37 remaining and not look back.

UP NEXT

Walla Walla will play a pair of home games against (RV) Eastern Oregon on Friday and College of Idaho on Saturday.

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