Northwest's Rich Skillman scored his 1,000th career point.
Concordia Comeback Falls Short, NU Posts 22nd Win
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Concordia’s comeback attempt at the end of the game wasn’t enough as Northwest University defeated the Cavaliers 82-74 tonight in conference play. With the win, the Eagles improve to 22-2 on the season, 12-2 in Cascade Conference play and remains tied for first place in the league.
Northwest led 79-68 with 1:05 remaining when Anthony Holton’s jumper cut the lead to nine, 79-70 with 58 seconds remaining. NU missed the front end of a one-and-one and Kevin West tipped in a Cavalier miss to cut the NU lead to seven, 79-72. Full court pressure by Concordia forced an Eagle turnover and Jourdan Sweeney tipped in Kevan West’s missed layup, 79-74, with 40 seconds to go. NU’s Jordan Call would make one of two free throws and Rich Skillman would make two free throws to close out the game for Northwest. For Skillman, the free throws were his 999th and 1,000th career points.
In the first half, the game remained close for the first 8 minutes as NU held on to a 6 point lead, 23-17. A Jason Waltman offensive rebound and tip in and a three point play by Michael Greene would grow the Northwest lead to eleven, 28-17, with 9:56 left in the half. A steal by Waltman and two free throws by Jordan Call would increase the NU lead to 13 points, 32-19 with 7:21 left on the clock. A Rich Skillman layup would give NU a 14 point lead, 40-26, at the 1:50 mark, but Concordia would go on a 9-0 run to end the half, capped off by a Gage Aker 3 pointer to cut the Northwest lead to 5 points, 42-37 at halftime.
The second half would remain closed much of the way as Northwest’s largest lead would be 6 points until the 11:45 mark and five straight points by Concordia would cut the Eagles’ lead to just one point, 58-57, with 9:20 to go in the game. NU would answer each time Concordia would pull to within a point. After CU’s Kevin West pulled the Cavs to within one again, 60-59, NU would go on a 12-2 run sparked by two Jordan Call 3 pointers and capped off by a Jason Waltman steal leading to a layup by Michael Greene with 5:18 to go in the game to lead 72-61. Northwest would hold that margin until the final 1:05 to go when Concordia’s late rally would fall short.
Jordan Call led Northwest U. (22-2, 12-2 CCC) with 26 points and 8 rebounds including shooting 90% from the free throw line (9 for 10). Rich Skillman scored his 1,000th career point with 18 on the night along with 8 rebounds. Michael Greene added 11 points and 7 rebounds and Ahmaad Cook contributed 10 points for the Eagles. NU shot 46% for the game, 32% from the 3 point line and out rebounded Concordia, 43-28.
Concordia (13-11, 5-8 CCC) was led by Jourdan Sweeney’s game high 27 points and 13 rebounds to register a double-double. Kevin West added 15 points and Drew Preuninger scored 14 points hitting 4 of 8 3 point attempts. The Cavaliers shot 48% for the night and 37% from beyond the 3 point arc. CU played without leading scorer Adam Herman who suffered a broken finger in practice the day before the game.
“Give credit to Concordia, they gave us their best effort tonight,” commented John Van Dyke, NU head coach. “We have to expect teams to give us their best each night and I was proud of the way our guys stuck together and battled through the challenge. We’re 22-2 and tied for first place and we’ve done it because our guys work hard and play together. Each game this season, someone different has risen to the occasion and helped us to be successful.”
Tomorrow night will feature a match-up of NAIA ranked teams as No. 10 Warner Pacific comes to Kirkland to take on No. 11 ranked Northwest. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.