NU's Ryan McIntosh (#21) hit the game winner tonight.
McIntosh's Trey Lifts Eagles Over OIT
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Ryan McIntosh hit a three pointer with 7.9 seconds to go to give Northwest University a narrow 75-74 victory over Oregon Tech. McIntosh took a cross court pass from Michael Greene after the NU rebounded Nemanja Grujicic's missed free throw. The pass found McIntosh wide open on the right side who hit the big shot for the win.
Northwest had maintained a slim lead the entire second half until the 1:41 mark when Kyle Waits’s 3 pointer would tie the game at 70-all to cap off an 8-0 run by Oregon Tech. McIntosh would miss a 3 point attempt and OIT would take a 73-70 lead after David Clarke would sink three free throws after being fouled on a 3 point attempt with one minute to go in the game. NU’s Michael Russo would hit one of two free throws with 45 seconds on the clock to help Northwest close to within two, 73-71. Tech would run the clock down to 29 seconds before NU would foul Brandon Bautista sending him to the free throw line where he would make the first but miss the second giving OIT a 74-71 lead. Michael Russo would miss a 3 point attempt for NU but Nemanja Grujicic would grab the offensive rebound and would be fouled on the put back attempt with 15 ticks left on the clock. Grujicic would make the first but miss the second shot, but Michael Greene would grab a tip on the left side of the basket and then locate McIntosh standing all alone on the right side for his game winning three. After a timeout, OIT would have one more attempt and David Clarke’s jumper would miss the mark as Greene would gather in the rebound as time expired.
Northwest U. (20-9, 10-7 CCC) was led by Michael Russo's (Sammamish, Wash.) 18 points followed by McIntosh's (Puyallup, Wash.) 13 points. Michael Greene (Bellingham, Wash.), Nemanja Grujicic (Ratkovo, Serbia) and Brett Skogstad (Allyn, Wash.) each scored 11 points for the Eagles. Northwest had a 45-24 margin on the rebounds with 8 offensive rebounds. The Eagles hit 54% of their shots, 46% from beyond the 3 point line.
For Oregon Tech (14-14, 5-11 CCC) Brandon Bautista and David Clarke led the Owls with 16 points each. Alex Zerbach and Kyle Waits each scored 11 points as the team shot 44%, 37% from the 3 point line. OIT managed 53% from the free throw line hitting just 9 of 17 attempts. Tech only turned the ball over 2 times to Northwest’s 18 turnovers.
“I’m very proud of our resilience,” said John Van Dyke, Northwest head coach. “Some teams may have lost hope after letting their lead slip away late in the game, but our guys hung in there and never quit. We can always expect a battle from Oregon Tech because they’ll never give up either. Let’s not forget, they are the defending national champions. There’s a great deal of respect between the two programs.”
Both teams resume CCC play next weekend with Northwest U. closing out their regular season against Evergreen at home while Oregon Tech hosts Northwest Christian and Corban in Klamath Falls.