EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 7 Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team won their fourth straight on Saturday night, taking care of The Evergreen State College, 89-72.
The Beacons hit 12 three-pointers including another six from senior Jack Hackman (pictured) who finished with 17 on the weekend. NCU (12-3, 6-2 CCC) shot 43% from the field while Evergreen posted a 47.5% clip, but a 43-38 rebounding margin, nine blocks and 16 Geoduck turnovers helped the Beacons along the way.
Things didn’t start so rosy for the home team. After leading 21-17, the Beacons allowed 12 straight points to their opponent. The eight point deficit was soon nine, but then NCU torched ESC with a 19-1 run, pulling ahead for good as they took a 44-38 lead into halftime.
Hackman finished with a team-leading 22 points, shooting 6-for-8 from downtown. Jay Mayernik scored 13 points and 8 rebounds in the post and his backup, Malik Heptot also scored 13, adding six rebounds and four blocks. Heptot led a strong effort from the NCU bench as the Beacon reserves out-scored Evergreen’s back-ups, 36-29. Sophomore Kenny Blackwell secured a double-double as he scored 11 points to go along with ten assists. It was the fourth 10-assist game of his career and first this season.
Evergreen (5-10, 2-7) was led by Taylor Drey, scoring a game-high 23 points, adding team highs with four assists and two steals. Jonathan Jack-Nixon came off the bench to score 13 and Dustin Meade added 11 from the pine.
The Beacons will be back on the court next weekend, hitting the road for Portland where they will take on Warner Pacific College on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Geoducks return home on Tuesday to play host to No. 13 Northwest University.