Northwest U. Drops Portland Bible
PORTLAND, Ore. – The NU men defeated a scrappy Portland Bible team last night, 75-65 in a non-conference contest for their second straight win of the season.
The Eagles would break out to an early 22-9 lead over PBC but outside shooting by Stephen McCall would pull the Wildcats back into the game. NU would maintain a slim lead throughout the half and go into the locker room at the half with a 36-34 lead.
The second half would be a bit more of the same as NU would take a 8-10 point lead and each time the feisty PBC team would battle back to make it a close contest. Rebounding and free throw shooting would be the difference at the end as the Eagles would make good their shots going 3 for 4 in the final seconds of the game as PBC was forced to foul. The Eagles out rebounded PBC 49-33, including 20 offensive boards.
NU’s (2-0, 0-0 CCC) junior Greg George registered a double-double on the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds and junior Tyson Christie led the Eagles with a team high 20 points while adding 6 rebounds. Senior Blake Solomon dropped in 16 points and made good 8 of 9 from the free throw line (88.8%). Soph Rich Skillman contributed 12 points and 5 rebounds for the Eagles. NU shot 45% from 2-point range and 31% from beyond the 3-point line.
Portland Bible (4-1), suffering their first loss of the season, was led by Stephen McCall’s game high 35 points. McCall was 13 for 22 from the field including 50% shooting from the 3-point line (7-14). PBC’s 6-10 center, Michael Cooper, was held to 8 points but grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked 4 NU shots. Free throw shooting didn’t help the Cat’s cause as they went 5 for 11 from the charity stripe shooting 45% on the night and they shot 43% from 2-point FG range.
The Eagles now hit the road for an exhibition game in Nampa, Idaho with Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, Nov. 7 and then fly to California for a non-conference game with Pacific Union College in Angwin.