NU's Rich Skillman was one assist shy of a triple double tonight.
No. 10 Northwest Defeats No. 23 Eastern Oregon
KIRKLAND, Wash. - In the battle of ranked teams tonight, No. 10 ranked Northwest University got the best of No. 23 ranked Eastern Oregon as they defeated the Mountaineers, 93-83, to improve to 15-0 on the season, 5-0 in Cascade Conference play. With the loss, Eastern Oregon drops to 10-5 for the year and 3-3 in the CCC.
Jamar Johnson’s 3-pointer three minutes into the game gave Eastern Oregon an early 10-3 lead, but a Rich Skillman trey would pull NU to within 2 points, 12-10 with 15:15 on the clock. From that point on, the game would remain close until a 6-0 run by EOU would give them a 7 points lead with 10:13 left until halftime. Eastern Oregon would maintain the lead, but once again Northwest would come back to tie the game at 33-all at the 4:22 mark on a Jordan Call jumper. Jamar Johnson would drill a 3-pointer to help EOU regain the lead, 36-33, but Tyler Mendezona would pull NU to within one point, 36-35, with his lay-up (3:23). Mendezona would then hit a big 3-pointer to knot the score at 38-38 with 2:56 to go in the half and a steal and dunk by Skillman, followed by a Mendezona trey would give Northwest their first lead of the game at, 43-38, with 2:13 showing on the scoreboard clock. After a Cody Thurmond 3-pointer for EOU, Mendezona would answer with one of his own as NU would take a 46-41 lead at the intermission.
Northwest would come out strong to start the second half and go on an 11-0 run to increase their lead to 16 points, 57-41. With NU leading 59-47 at the 15:28 mark, the Eagles would go on a 10-0 run capped off by Ahmaad Cook’s 3-pointer to go up, 69-47, their largest lead, with 13:53 left in the game. But Eastern Oregon would not away easily and would begin chipping away at the NU lead. EOU would go on an 18-0 run to find themselves down by just 4 points, 69-65 with 10 minutes left in the game. Jordan Call would hit a 3-pointer to get the Eagle lead back up to 10 points, 75-65, but a 6-0 run by the Mounties would make it a 4 point ball game, 75-71, with 6:19 to go. Call would answer with another trey to put NU up 80-73 with 4 minutes to go. With 2:10 to go in the contest, Michael Greene would hit two layups in the lane and then knock down two free throws to give NU a 9 point lead with 1:01 remaining to help seal the 15th straight win for the Eagles.
Five Northwest (15-0, 5-0 CCC) players scored in double figures: Michael Greene (Bellingham, Wash.) led the way with 20 points, Jordan Call (Kirkland, Wash.) scored 18, Rich Skillman (Everson, Wash.) scored 16 points and Jason Waltman (Monroe, Wash.) and Tyler Mendezona (Issaquah, Wash.) each added 11 points for the Eagles. Skillman completed the double-double with 15 rebounds and was one assist shy of a triple double with nine. NU shot 49% for the night and out rebounded Eastern Oregon 40-30.
Eastern Oregon (10-5, 3-3 CCC) was led by Jamar Johnson’s 26 points. Mason Jones added 14 points and JaMier Morris scored 11 points for the Mountaineers who shot 49% for the night, 55% from beyond the 3-point arc. EOU also hit 18 of 21 free throws for an 86% average.
“It took a good effort to defeat a strong team like Eastern Oregon tonight,” commented NU head coach, John Van Dyke. “I’m really proud of our guys as we also won the rebound battle with one of the best rebounding teams in the country. Our team is sharing the ball well and committing themselves to play defense each and every night.”
Northwest will now travel to Portland next weekend for big games with Concordia and Warner Pacific.