Northwest's Brett Skogstad hits one of his five 3 pointers.
Northwest Registers 12th Win of the Season
KIRKLAND, Wash. – No. 21 Northwest University’s hot shooting proved to be too much for Northwest Christian as the Eagles posted a 72-46 conference victory tonight. Northwest hit 58% of their shots including 57% shooting (11-19) from the 3 point line while limiting the Beacons to 21 second half points.
It didn’t look like it would be that type of night as Northwest Christian would take an early, 8-0 lead as Travis Pacos would hit a driving layup five minutes into the game. The Eagles would heat up as Michael Russo would hit a 3 pointer to tie the game at 10-10 with 11:08 on the clock. Nick Sullivan would help NCU regain the lead, 12-10 on his drive to the basket, but Brett Skogstad would answer for the Eagles to tie the game again at 12-12. Skogstad’s basket would key a 9-0 run as Michael Greene’s score in the paint would make it 21-12 at the 6:27 mark. NCU would battle back and Greg Shepard’s three point play with 3:12 to go until halftime would cut the NU lead to three, 21-18. Ryan Dornik would drain a 3 pointer with 55 seconds left and Ryan McIntosh would score after a steal by Michael Greene to make it 32-23 with 25 seconds left, but Gio Guzman would score on a layup with 2 seconds on the clock to make it a 32-25 lead for Northwest as the buzzer sounded.
Northwest would heat up to start the second half as they would score the first 17 points in the half and hold NCU scoreless for nearly seven minutes as they would build a 24 point lead, 51-27, at the 12:59 mark. The Eagles Brett Skogstad would lead the way during the run going 3 for 3 from the three point line along with adding a steal on defense. NCU would not go away without a fight and they would go on a 10-0 run to cut the Northwest lead to 14 points, capped off by a three point play by Travis Pacos with 10:03 to go in the game. The teams would trade baskets for several minutes, but Northwest U. would build their lead to 24 points once again after a Michael Russo three pointer and a dunk by Michael Greene with 2:19 remaining as the Eagles would register their 12
th victory of the season and improve their CCC mark to 2-0.
Leading the way for Northwest U. (12-2, 2-0 CCC) was Brett Skogstad (Allyn, Wash.) who scored a game high 19 points including 5 of 6 from the 3 point line. Junior Michael Greene (Bellingham, Wash.) added 16 points, Michael Russo (Sammamish, Wash.) scored 14 points and senior Ryan Dornik (Vancouver, Wash.) contributed 12, hitting 4 of 5 from beyond the 3 point line. NU shot 52% for the night, 58% from the 3 point line and held the edge on rebounding, 38-32.
Northwest Christian (7-8, 1-2 CCC) was led by Nick Sullivan’s 13 points and Wyatt Taboh-Graziano added 10 for the Beacons who managed just 26% shooting for the night (14-55) and 25% from the 3 point line (6-24).
“I thought we played a good second half, offensively and defensively, and the guys responded well,” said John Van Dyke, NU head coach. “It was a good way to get our week started after last week’s final exams.”
Northwest U. resumes CCC play tomorrow night as they host Corban University at 7:30 p.m. and Northwest Christian takes on Evergreen in Olympia also at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday night.