Willamette to Play in Bruce Henderson Memorial Capital City Classic

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University and Corban College will take on William Jessup University (Calif.) and Bethany University (Calif.) this weekend in the first annual Bruce Henderson Memorial Capital City Classic on Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28. All four games will be hosted by Corban at the Jeffers Sports Center.

The tournament pays tribute to former Willamette women's basketball Head Coach Bruce Henderson, who collapsed during practice and died from an apparent heart-related incident on Dec. 8, 2008. Henderson, in his fourth year as Willamettes head coach, was 47 years old.

On Friday, Willamette will take on William Jessup at 5:30 p.m. (PST) and Corban will play Bethany at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Bearcats will face Bethany at 3:30 p.m. (PST) and the Warriors will battle William Jessup at 5:30 p.m.

William Jessup and Bethany University compete in the NAIA as part of the California Pacific Conference. Willamette is a member of NCAA Division III and the Northwest Conference. Corban competes in the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Corban will be providing Live Video of every game during the tournament. To watch Willamette's games live, click on the Corban game for the same day. There also will be Live Stats available for every game. The same link will be used for Live Stats during all four games.

Part of the tournament activities will be a youth clinic hosted by the Bearcats at Cone Field House on the Willamette campus on Saturday. The clinic is for children from kindergarten through eighth grade and will last from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. (PST). Cost of the clinic is $5 per child with the a canned food or gently used clothing donation. All donations will go to Family Builidng Blocks, a local non-profit organization.

The first 40 participants at the clinic will receive a free t-shirt. Children wearing the t-shirts will receive free admission to Saturday's tournament games at Corban.