Northwest Christian Wins Close Contest Over Northwest U.
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest Christian shot a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line to close out the game and come away with a 75-70 Cascade Conference victory over Northwest University tonight in the Pavilion. Both teams came into tonight’s contest with identical 10-8 season records and 4-5 conference marks.
Northwest Christian jumped out to an early 15-7 lead in the first half capped off by Cameron Marshall’s lay in at the 14:08 mark. The Eagles would battle back and Blake Solomon’s lay-in with 10:57 to go in the half would pull NU to within two points, 15-13, but another Marshall lay-in and a Drew Laird 3 pointer would put NWCU up 20-13 (10:14). With Northwest Christian leading 31-24 with 3:32 to go in the half, Northwest would go on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 33 with 44 seconds to go and the teams would head off to the locker room 33-33 at the half.
The second half would see a tight contest with 11 ties and 7 lead changes. NU’s Greg George would tie the game at 61-61 with 3:38 remaining but two free throws by Erik Quick-Warner would give the lead back to Northwest Christian (63-61). The Eagles’ Eddie Coulson would tie the game once again at 63 with his jumper with 2:06 to go, but tow more free throws by Quick-Warner would let the Beacons take back the lead, 65-63 with 1:55 left. Two free throws by NU’s Rich Skillman would tie the game once again at 67 a piece with 1:27 to go but NWCU’s Jordan Whittenburg’s jumper would give the Beacons the lead for good with 57 seconds left. Four straight free throws, two by Quick-Warner and two by Whittenburg would seal the win as NU’s Blake Solomon hit a 3-pointer with 4 seconds to go to end the scoring on the night and give the win to Northwest Christian.
Northwest U.’s (10-9, 4-6 CCC) Blake Solomon (Junior, Kent, Wash.) led the Eagles with 18 points. Freshman Rich Skillman (Everson, Wash.) added 15 points and sophomore Greg George (Seattle, Wash.) contributed 11 points for the Eagles. NU shot 46% on the night and 41% from the 3-point line.
Northwest Christian (11-8, 5-5 CCC) leading scorer was Cameron Marshall who finished with 17 points. Jordan Whittenburg added 14 and teammate Dylan Perry scored 11 points on the night. Erik Quick-Warner dropped in 10 points for the Beacons who shot 88% from the free throw line (22-25), 47.9% from 2-point range and 41% from beyond the 3-point arc. NWCU out rebounded Northwest U. 33-26.
Northwest U. will be on the road next weekend as they travel to Ashland and Klamath Falls, Oregon to take on Southern Oregon U. and Oregon Tech on January 23 and 24. Northwest Christian will also be on the road as they play Corban College and Concordia U. next Friday and Saturday.