PORTLAND, Ore.—Facing a stiff defense from No. 10-ranked Northwest University, the Concordia men’s basketball team dropped a 75-65 decision to the visiting Eagles on Saturday.

 

Northwest’s defense helped the Eagles (16-1, 6-1 CCC) hold Concordia (9-8, 2-5 CCC) to season-lows in shooting percentage (.400) and in points scored (65).

 

Meanwhile, the Northwest offense responded with a 44-32 advantage in rebounds and an 11-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. That led to a key 12-6 advantage in second-chance points for the Eagles.

 

Northwest’s ability to get in the paint, though, let the Eagles go on a pivotal 14-2 run in the second half. During the stretch, the Eagles scored eight of their 14 points in the paint with four more points coming from the free throw line.

 

That run opened up what had been a close game after Concordia’s Adam Herman converted a three-point play to cut the Northwest lead to 47-43 with 11:15 remaining. After the run, though, Northwest led 61-45 with only 5:57 remaining.

 

Concordia did their best to cut into the Eagles’ lead after that, but the lead never dropped below ten points for the rest of the night.

 

Earlier, the teams seesawed back and forth in the first half as the lead changed hands four times in the period. However, a small 7-2 run at the end of the period gave the Eagles breathing room heading into the second half. Northwest led 30-26 at the break and never relinquished their lead in the second half.

 

Overall, Northwest outshot the Cavs .422-to-.400. Besides their rebounding advantage, the Eagles also made more free throws (18-15) and managed a slight advantage in three-point field goals made (3-2).

 

Individually, the Eagles got 73 of their 75 points from six players with five of those scoring in double-figures. Jordan Call led the Eagles with 17 points, while Rich Skillman added 15, Michael Green added 12, Jason Waltman added 11 and Tyler Mendezona added 10. Waltman also had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Eagles to record a double-double. For the Cavs, Kevan West led all scorers with 20 points and Adam Herman chipping in another 15. West and Herman also buoyed the Cavs’ atypically low field goal percentage by shooting 10-of-17 and 6-of-10 from the floor, respectively.

 

Next up, the Eagles travel back home to host Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon on Jan. 13-14. Concordia, meanwhile, heads back out on the road to face Northwest Christian and Corban. The Cavs will first play at Northwest Christian on Friday, Jan. 13 before wrapping up the weekend against Corban on Saturday, Jan. 14. Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m.