EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest University Eagles, ranked tenth in NAIA Division II, held off a late rally by Northwest Christian University on Monday night to remain undefeated with a 65-62 victory.
The Eagles (12-0, 2-0 CCC) were led by Michael Green (pictured), scoring 17 points and eight rebounds as he shot 6-for-8 from the floor. Rich Skillman hit a trio of three-pointers and finished with 16 points and a team-high six assists and three steals. NU shot 38% in the game but rallied from a three-point halftime deficit behind 12-for-25 shooting over the final 20 minutes.
Northwest Christian (6-8, 0-3 CCC) was led by Trevor Parker, scoring 13 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Buhler added 12 points and seven boards and Brian Hampton scored eight points and seven assists. Travis Pacos, making his first collegiate start, scored eleven points and led the Beacons with eight rebounds. Brody McGowan came off the bench to score nine points while posting three blocked shots.
After shooting 48% in the first half, NCU took a 31-28 lead into the intermission. They quickly grew their lead to seven on back-to-back jump shots and they were ahead 35-28 with 18:45 to play. The Eagles took charge, using a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to establish a 40-35 lead. With under nine minutes to play, NU had spread the gap to eleven points, leading 53-42.
The Beacons refused to go quietly and the teams went through a number of four and five points swings over the next few minutes. Trailing 60-53 with 3:13 to play, NCU made one last push as they went on a 7-1 run to climb back to within 61-60 with 21 seconds to play.
Forced to foul, NCU failed to capitalize on a missed back-end attempt on their next possession as the Eagles grabbed an offensive rebound to go back to the line with under ten seconds to play. NU went up 65-60 and a last-second layup by Brian Hampton wouldn’t be enough as the upset bid fell short.
NCU Head Coach Corey Anderson said, “We played well tonight and I appreciate the fact that we were able to battle back the way we did. Northwest is a very good team and they made plays at the end to win it. We didn’t shoot the ball very well in the second half and a lot of that has to do with the Northwest defense.”
Northwest will be back in action tomorrow night, traveling to Salem to take on Corban University at 7:30 pm. NCU will also have a 7:30 tip as they host Evergreen.