EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team is alone in first place in the Cascade Conference for the first time this season after an 84-80 come from behind victory over The College of Idaho on Sunday afternoon.
“It was an emotional game and both teams really needed it tonight,” said head coach Luke Jackson. “That is a really good team and they are hungry. They have had four close games in a row and have gone through the gauntlet on the road. They played like a desperate team and we didn’t come out with the same desperation. It’s hard to manufacture that especially coming off last night’s emotional win against Eastern. Fortunately we found a way to win. There were so many things we could have done better and we didn’t play a great game, but we were still able to get a marquee win.”
NCU trailed by as many as 12 points early in the game, only to climb back and tie the contest with 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Freshman Talon Pinkney put up a pair of free-throws to give the College of Idaho a 42-40 lead at the break.
Kenny Blackwell hit a three-pointer 66 seconds into the second frame to give the Beacons their first lead since the opening minutes of the game, but it wouldn’t last long as the Yotes again built up a ten-point advantage, 62-52 with ten minutes to go.
The Beacons slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually stealing back the lead, 69-68 on a pair of Blackwell free-throws with 4:42 remaining. Over the next three minutes the teams traded leads five times, trading blow for blow.
With 1:26 remaining, a Jack Hackman three pointer and two more freebies for Blackwell gave NCU a three-point lead, which quickly evaporated as Aitor Zubizarreta posted his fourth trey of the night to tie the game 80-80 with 39 ticks on the clock.
On the Beacons next possession, Brendyn Taylor gave the Beacons the lead for good with a pair of free throws. In all, the two teams were tied 11 ties in the game and traded leads 11 times.
While Blackwell scored ten of his 17 points over the final seven minutes and other players stepped up to make huge scoring plays, it was the defense that Jackson credited with the comeback. He said, “We were so sloppy tonight on the offensive end, not valuing possessions, but on the defensive end I was proud of everyone. Whenever we needed a stop, someone stepped in and made a play.”
NCU was led by Jay Mayernik (pictured), finishing with 21 points and ten rebounds. The 56% free-throw shooter went 7-for-7 at the line, adding team-highs with three assists and three blocks. Blackwell finished with 17 points and Hackman scored 14, shooting 4-for-5 from three-point range. Michael Loomis came off the bench to score 13 points, leading a strong effort from the reserves as they outscoring the Yotes bench, 21-7.
The Beacons shot just 43% but were 7-for-13 from three-point range and out-rebounded C of I, 37-29.
The College of Idaho (14-8, 7-5) was led by Zubizarreta, scoring a game-high 22 points as he hit four three-pointers. Senior Emanuel Morgan, a Eugene native and Churchill High School product, had the best homecoming performance of his career, scoring 20 points and five assists, hitting 5-for-5 from three-point range. Aziz Leeks and Roosevelt Adams each scored ten in the loss.
NCU will be back in action on Wednesday night, traveling to Salem for another rivalry clash against Corban University at 7:30 p.m. The Yotes will head back to Caldwell this weekend for their first home games since January 7 as they take on Northwest University and Evergreen State.