NU's Zach Smith contributed 13 points tonight
Eagles Fly Over Wildcats in CCC Tune-up
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Northwest University put together two strong halves to defeat Portland Bible College 95-55, in a non-league contest in their final game before conference play begins on Tuesday. Michael Dupree led Northwest U (4-4) with 22 points and 5 assists as the Eagles led 47-28 after the first half of play. NU then outscored the Wildcats, 48-27 in the second half.
PBC stayed with the Eagles in the early portion of the first half with Northwest U leading by one, 14-13, thirteen minutes into the game. But NU would slowly increase their lead to 22-13 after an 8-0 run capped off by a Zach Smith 3-pointer with nine minutes to go in the half. Leading 35-24 with 2:53 left in the half, Northwest would outscore the Wildcats 12-8, with Zach Smith ending the run with 30 seconds remaining with another 3-pointer as NU would take a 47-28 lead at the break.
Northwest U would continue to increase their lead and a jumper by Ben Tucakovic at the 15:59 mark would make it a 25 point Eagle lead, 58-33. NU would continue to lead the remainder of the game as they would begin to clear the bench with 4:43 to go and the Eagles leading by 27.
In addition to Dupree's 22, Zach Smith contributed 13, hitting 3 of 4 from the 3-point line. Dak Shagren and Ben Tucakovic each added 8 points and Jessie Norton came off the bench to score 9 for the Eagles. NU owned a 45-24 rebounding margin over the undersized Wildcats.
Matthew Martin led Portland Bible with 16 points as the Wildcats shot 36 percent for the night. Northwest U held a 45-24 rebounding edge as the Eagles shot 53 percent from the field and 89 percent from the free throw line.
"I was pleased with our effort tonight and especially our players coming off the bench," commented NU head coach, John Van Dyke. "They gave us a good effort and our quality of play did not drop when they entered the game. We're improving with each game and now we'll prepare for conference play which begins Tuesday."