For the second year in a row, the Clark College men’s basketball team will be taking a No. 1 seed with them to Kennewick.
The Penguins wrapped up the NWAC West region top spot with a 92-81 win over Highline on Saturday at the O’Connell Center.
The teams finished tied for first at 13-3 in the West region, but Clark gets the top seed by virtue of the season sweep of the Thunderbirds.
And the Penguins did it with hot shooting Saturday. They made 55.6 percent of their field goal attempts and 24 of 30 free throws.
Clark sophomore Orlando Vance scored 24 points on 8 for 10 shooting from the field and free-throw line. He also had seven rebounds and six blocked shots.
Hayden Hall scored 17 points, and Evan Garrison scored 12 points to go with eight assists. Bryan Berg had nine points and nine assists.
(Click here for complete boxscore)
Clark (21-6 overall) will open the NWAC Tournament at 6 p.m. Saturday against the No. 4 seed from the East region.
WOMEN: Clark 69, Highline 62 — Taylor Howlett followed up her 27-point game on Wednesday with a 30-point effort on Saturday in Clark’s win over Highline.
Howlett, a sophomore from Spokane playing her final game in the O’Connell Center, made 5 of 11 shots and 17 of 23 free throws. She also had six assists.
Caylee Newsom had 13 points, and Michaela Bitanga had nine points and nine rebounds.
(Click here for complete boxscore)
Clark (15-9, 10-6 West) will be the No. 4 West region seed for the NWAC Tournament in Kennewick next week. The Penguins will play East No. 1 Walla Walla (21-5) at 10 a.m. in their tournament opener on Saturday.
