NCC Posts Road Win at Concordia
PORTLAND, Ore.—Missing only six shots in 24 attempts, including only 3 of 10 from three-point land, Northwest Christian grabbed a seven-point lead in the first half and held on to defeat Concordia University 81-73 in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s basketball action.
With the result, NCC moved to 5-8 on the season with a 2-1 mark in the CCC while Concordia dropped to 5-5 with a 1-2 record in league play.
Aided by six three pointers, Jordan Whittenburg led the floor with 27 points while teammate Josh Jarrett chipped in 20 after hitting 10 of 13 from the field to lead the Beacons. Desmond Meray (Spanaway, Wash./Bethel H.S.) led four Cavaliers in double figures with 19 points.
Three minutes in with the score 7-4, Concordia generated its biggest lead of the night before a nine-point swing put NCC up 15-9. The Cavs would eventually tie the game at 17 with a Cody Aker (Portland, Ore./Wilson H.S.) jumper with 11:08 left in the first but four Whittenburg three-point shots kept the Beacons ahead entering intermission.
For the half Concordia shot a healthy 57.7 percent from the field, but could not keep pace with the Beacons’ 75 percent rate.
NCC would stretch the lead to 13 with just under 10 minutes remaining before an 18-6 run, including 13 points by Meray and five by Ryan Murray (Pitt Meadow, B.C./Terry Fox) would give the Cavs a chance with four minutes left in the second period.
The comeback hopes would be short-lived as the Cavs would miss their final seven shot attempts while the Beacons would hit 5 of 6 free throws to secure the win.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Concordia head coach Brad Barbarick said. “Hats off to Northwest Christian; they are a great team and we knew what we were up against.”
Concordia will next take the floor on Dec. 28 when they travel to Western Oregon University for the two-day Phoenix Inn Invitational in Monmouth, Ore. The Cavs will face WOU in the opener at 7 p.m. and Central Washington at 4 p.m. on Dec. 29.