Darius Redrick had a team-high 13 points and six assists as Multnomah dropped its CCC opener 81-71 to visiting Northwest (Wash.) Friday night.
NORTHWEST 81, MULTNOMAH 71: Eagles’ Red-Hot 2nd Half Burns Lions in CCC Lidlifter
PORTLAND, Ore. – After taking a 10-point lead into halftime, the Multnomah Lions saw that advantage wilt under a blistering .733 second-half shooting percentage by the visiting Northwest University (Wash.) Eagles, who rallied for an 81-71 win in the Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball opener for both teams Friday night here at Lytle Gym.
A Christian Hakilimali three-pointer gave Northwest the first lead of the game, but the Lions went on a 15-2 tear, capped by a steal and thunderous dunk by Brett Blackstock, to take a 10-point lead five minutes in. Darius Redrick's 13 first-half points helped the Lions maintain that lead, and they jumped in front by 12 at 40-28 a minute from the end on a three by Jon Viles. Justice Martion, who came off the Eagles' bench for 12 first-half points, hit a jumper to make it a 40-30 game at the break.
The Eagles hit their first five shots in a two-and-a-half minute span to open the second half while the Lions went scoreless, tying the game 40-40. The Lions finally ended the streak and went back ahead on a three by Max Upchurch, who came off the Multnomah bench to toss in four treys, most from well beyond NBA range, and keep his team in the game. There were six lead changes over the next seven minutes as both teams got hot, the Lions going up 60-56 on a three by Tyler Walker with 10:32 to play.
The rest of the game belonged the visitors, however, as the taller Eagles took the ball to the hoop continuously while shutting down the Lions' three-point effectiveness. Northwest, which hit 22 of 30 shots in the second half, reeled off 18 points in a row in five-and-a-half minutes to build its largest lead of the game at 74-60 with 5:06 left, and the Lions got no closer than eight thereafter.
--- By the Numbers: Redrick led Multnomah with those 13 first-half points as the Eagles made sure he did not get the ball in the second half, while Upchurch and Trey Fountain added 12 apiece. Ben Grandle had a team-high six rebounds, Redrick handed out six assists, and Blackstock picked up three steals. The Lions finished with a .377 shooting percentage (26-69), .357 (15-42) on threes.
Martion had 25 points for Northwest to lead all scorers, followed by Tanner Davis with 23 and Hakilimali with 12. The Eagles shot a hefty .593 (35-59) for the game. Davis and Martion also had seven rebounds each as Northwest held a 41-34 advantage on the boards. Hakilimali and Daniel Ghebremichael passed out four assists apiece.
Multnomah is now 2-6 overall while Northwest is 7-4.
--- Quoting coach Curt Bickley: "Great first half, lost momentum in the second half on some turnovers. We just couldn't get a stop when we needed it. The Cascade Conference requires two great halves to win, and we didn't get it done tonight. On to the Evergreen State College game."
--- Next: Multnomah hosts Evergreen State and Northwest goes to Warner Pacific College Saturday, both CCC games starting at 7:30 p.m.