WWCC men capture first NWAC title since 1979

Dalton Thompson and Gabe Potter teamed up to score 45 points, and the Walla Walla Community College men’s basketball team toppled Tacoma 93-75 on Sunday at Everett Community College to win the Warriors’ first NWAC championship since 1979.

WWCC was back in the Final Four for the first time since 2007. The Warriors hadn’t won a championship since capturing back to back titles in 1978-79.

That history sure didn’t show out of the gate as WWCC made 54.1 percent of its shots in the first half (46.7 percent from 3-point range) to take a commanding 52-26 halftime lead.

The shooting cooled off in the second half — 12 of 25 (48 percent) — which allowed the Titans to chip away at the massive deficit, but they never really got close in the title game.

WWCC shot the 3-ball at a blistering clip the night before in an 87-73 win over Lower Columbia, hitting 19 shots from beyond the arc. While they didn’t have quite the same prolific numbers against Tacoma, the Warriors still knocked down 10 3s, led by Thompson and Porter (Walla Walla High School), who hit three apiece.

Beau Tilleman pulled down 12 rebounds for WWCC, helping them stay nearly even with Tacoma on the boards (lost 41-40). Landon Radliff (Richland) scored nine points and dished five assists.

Khalil Thompson led four Titans in double digits with 15 points on 3 of 9 shooting from deep. Ravion Bell pulled down 10 rebounds for Tacoma.

This story was originally published March 19, 2017 at 9:48 PM with the headline "WWCC men capture first NWAC title since 1979."