EUGENE, Ore. – Trailing by eight points with 30 seconds remaining, Northwest Christian University nearly pulled off the improbable comeback as a three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short, giving the No. 6 seed Southern Oregon Raiders a 78-77 win over the No. 3 Beacons in the quarterfinal round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament presented by U.S. Bank.
Southern Oregon advances to the semifinal round on Saturday and will travel to face No. 4 Corban University. Top seed Oregon Tech was upset by No. 8 Northwest on Wednesday and the Eagles will travel to take on No. 2 College of Idaho. The Beacons, currently receiving votes in the NAIA national poll, finish their season with a record of 19-10.
As any good CCC tournament game goes, the 3 vs. 6 clash had plenty of swings. After NCU went ahead by as many as 13-points midway through the opening half, Southern responded with a 17-4 run to tie the game before NCU ran a 44-43 lead into the intermission.
The Raiders opened the second-half on a 20-5 run and NCU quickly found themselves trailing 63-49 with 14:27 to play. The Beacons weren’t finished, however. Kicked off by a field goal from Ernest Ugoagu, Northwest Christian embarked on a 16-2 run over the next nine minutes that featured a pair of three-pointers from Tyrus Hosley, including the game-tying score to make it 65-65 with five minutes remaining.
The Beacons briefly took back a 68-67 lead on a Reece Robinson three. Teron Bradford gave the visitors the lead on their next possession and they held a 71-70 lead with two minutes to play. SOU went on to score seven straight points including five at the free-throw line to take a 78-70 lead with 29 ticks remaining.
After grabbing an offensive rebound, Austin Tyner was fouled going for a three pointer and proceeded to make two of three free-throws to bring the Beacons within six. The third shot fell short but as an SOU player grabbed the board he was subsequently charged with a travel, giving NCU the ball once again.
With 14 seconds to play, Reece Robinson hit a three to make it a three-point game, 78-75. Tyner proceeded to pick off the ensuing in-bound pass for his fourth steal of the game. A few passes around the arch were unable to yield a shot-attempt and Tyner was fouled, setting up a 1-and-1 opportunity with nine seconds to play.
The senior connected on the front and back-end, bringing NCU within one. A quick foul on the in-bound put the Raiders back at the line for their own bonus opportunity with four seconds left. Aaron Borich missed the front end and the ball was rebounded by Hosley who was immediately swarmed by a pair of defenders in black jerseys. Hosley managed to get to mid-court before firing a heave at the buzzer that went off the backboard to end the game.
The Raiders (20-10) were led by Tristen Holmes who went 4-for-5 from three-point range and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Tate Hoffman came off the bench to score 13 while Bradford followed with 12 and Tez Allen scored ten. SOU shot 48% from the field and out-rebounded the Beacons 41-36 as they survived a night in which they committed 21 turnovers.
Northwest Christian (19-10) shot just 41% and were 11-for-29 from three-point range. The Beacons managed just nine assists on 27 field goals but did collect ten steals.
Ugoagu finished off the season with a 20-point night while Reece Robinson came off the bench to close out his career with 16 points and four blocks. Hosley scored 14 points and hit four triples.
Tyner closed out his career with a quiet night scoring, but a deep all-around effort as he collected eight points and team-highs of seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. The senior completes a four-year stint with the Beacons with 1036 points which places him seventh on the all-time scoring list. His 143 career steals, including 72 this season, rank fourth in school history while his 141 three-pointers are tied for third-place in the record books, alongside Javonte Byrd.