Northwest U. Holds Off Pacific for the Victory
KIRKLAND, Wash. - The Northwest U. Eagles held off a tough Pacific University team (Forest Grove, Ore.) tonight for the 78-72 non-conference victory.
The first half would see both teams playing tough defense as Northwest U. would pull ahead and take a slim, 36-32 lead at halftime. In a game that would see six ties, Northwest would take the lead for good with 5:49 left in the game as senior Eddie Coulson's free throw would put the Eagles into the lead at 64-63. Pacific would get within one with 4:51 remaining as AJ Gaulton would sink 2 free throws but two big three point shots by sophomore Lucas Ashe and Eddie Coulson would put NU up by four at 69-65 with 3:17 to go in the game. Pacific would claw back and tie the game at 72 all with 2:03 remaining, but Eddie Coulson’s fade away jumper from the baseline as the shot clock was winding down would put the Eagles up for good (74-72) with 1:25 to go in the game. Rich Skillman and Jason Waltman would sink two free throws a piece to finish out the scoring. Pacific would fail to convert the final 1:25 and the Eagles earned their third victory of the season.
Northwest U. (3-3) had five players in double figures with Lucas Ashe (Soph., Spokane, Wash.) leading the way with 13 points. Freshman Rich Skillman (Everson, Wash.) and sophomore Greg George (Seattle, Wash.) both scored 11 for the Eagles, while senior guard Eddie Coulson (N. Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Greg Peters (Belmont, St. Vincent) each contributed 10 points a piece for NU. Northwest won the battle of the rebounds, 33-31 and shot 51.9% from 2-point range for the contest.
Pacific U. (0-1) was led by AJ Gaulton's game high 16 points with teammate Micah Mooney adding 13 points and Ross Bartlett dropping in 12 for the Boxers. Pacific shot 100% from the free throw line in the second half going 11 for 11 and 94% for the game (17 for 18).
"I liked the way our team came out and played with intensity on defense tonight," stated head coach John Van Dyke after the game. "It established a level of play we'd like to attain every game. It's a good win for the team as Pacific is a solid, veteran team and should do well in the Northwest Conference this year," he continued. "They made some serious runs at us and I was proud of the way our team responded and didn't give in."
The Eagles remain at home and will host Walla Walla University on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Pavilion. It will be the fifth game in eight days for the NU team.