EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University Men’s Basketball team let a 17-point lead slip away before coming up with a big win over William Jessup on Friday night, 73-63. Sophomore Mitch Wilson scored six points over the final three minutes to help NCU hold off the Warriors at the Morse Event Center.
The Beacons took a five-point lead into halftime, 29-24. The lead quickly grew to 17 as the Beacons held a 51-34 lead with 13:21 to play. Then the Warriors began creeping back, using an 11-0 run to make it a six points game with just ten minutes to play. After that a 10-2 run brought WJU to within 57-55 with three minutes to play. Over the next minute Wilson scored six straight points, hitting two layups and a pair of free-throws. He tacked on an assist and a block in the final moments as well before hitting two more free throws in the final seconds.
Head Coach Corey Anderson said, “At times, defensively, we did a really good job tonight, but I was a little disappointed in the way we allowed the run in the second half. Our focus was lacking a bit. We would look good from possession to possession but then we would just have a mental lapse. A win is a win and I’m not going to complain, but we have some things that we can work on over the next week.”
Wilson finished with a game-high 18 points for the Beacons (6-6), shooting 7-for-10 from the field. Trevor Parker added 17 points, including 14 in the second half as he went 3-for-4 from three-point range. Brian Hampton added 12 points and Jordan Buhler scored ten, along with team highs of eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
William Jessup (3-9) was led off the bench by Jordan Wilson, scoring 15 points, six assists and five rebounds. Preston Bramow added 14 points and Anthony Anderson finished with 12. NCU was able to hold WJU leading scorer Marqus Crawford to just four points and a 0-for-7 shooting night from the field.
The Beacons will be back in action on Saturday night when they welcome Willamette University into the Morse Event Center at 7:30 pm.