Portland, Ore. | The Warner Pacific Men's Basketball Seniors finished their careers on Bart Valentine Court with a victory on Friday night. The Knights defeated the Beacons of Northwest Christian University 84-78.
In the first half alone, there were 11 lead-changes between the two teams, who were evenly matched up. It being senior night and all, Coach
Jared Valentine started his five starters, one of which, was Mark Borgeson who hit back-to-back threes to keep the Knights in line with the Beacons' offense to start off the contest.
As the first half was nearing the end, Kadeem Strickland unloaded from 25-feett but the Beacon defender caught his forearm and with 3 seconds on the clock, Strickland went to the charity stripe for three. The Junior Portland native converted on all three, sending the Knights into the locker room with a one point lead at half.
Still with the hot hand, Strickland came out of the break only to nail another 25-footer. The contest remained tight with another six lead changes throughout the second half before Warner Pacific was able to pull away with the lead and maintain it at the ten minute mark.
Senior Jalen Ballard was able to get a few crucial steals and buckets for the Knights in the process of maintaining the lead. Ballard and fellow senior KJ Bosco, went on a combined 16-8 run which resulted in a ten point lead with just under six minutes remaining.
The Beacons kept clawing their way through, bringing the lead within six before a big Kaleb Tompkins three from the logo. The Knights then went on to hit ten straight free throws.
Just as it seemed the Knights were pulling away, NCU's Ernest Ugoagu wasn't having it. Ugoagu scored nine points in the last ninety seconds, all from 23+ feet, keeping the Beacons ever so slightly within reaching distance.
Ultimately, when it came down to it, the Knights were able to nail the Free Throws down the stretch, going 10-10 in the last 90 seconds of play. Those ten FT's were the last ten points WPU scored in the contest and the Knights pulled away with the six point win as the hunt for a place in the playoffs is still in play.
Jalen Ballard and KJ Bosco led the Knights in scoring with 17 apiece. Ballard dished out five assists while Bosco snagged 11 boards and scored all but three of his points from the FT line (14-15).
Ernest Ugoagu led all scorers with 27 points (8-14 3FG) and five rebounds.
Warner Pac honored their five seniors this evening; Jalen Ballard, Mo Betha, Mark Borgeson, KJ Bosco and Josh Hernandez, all of which scored two or more points.
"This group of seniors will be missed. The have made significant contributions to our program", Coach Valentine said of his pack of seniors. "It was a gritty performance from them and it was clear they weren't going to let us lose. Hopefully we can build on this win moving forward." The Knights are searching for a definite spot in the playoffs.
The Knights will close out the regular season next weekend starting with Oregon Tech with a 730pm tip-off.