EUGENE, Ore. – After opening the 2009-2010 season with a pair of losses, the Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team has now won five in a row after an 83-67 victory over Walla Walla University. Behind a game-high 14 points from junior Quentin Guidry, NCU avenged an earlier buzzer-beating loss to the Wolves.
The teams battled back and forth in the early goings and after three lead changes and three ties, Walla Walla held a 19-17 lead with 8:39 to play in the first half. But then the Beacons began to get into a rhythm as David Vermilyea tied the game with a lay-in and Michael Van Loon followed with a three-pointer on the following possession to give NCU the lead for good.
The Beacons build a nine-point advantage at the intermission, 39-30, and cruised to a 27-point lead in the second half. NCU was able to clear the bench and give solid minutes to the reserves and as a result, Walla Walla climbed back to within eleven, but that was as close as they would make it.
After shooting over 50% from the three-point range and hitting 13 treys in their 103-102 home win over Northwest Christian on November 3rd, Walla Walla managed to hit just 16% from beyond the arc on Tuesday, including a 1-for-10 clip in the second half.
The Beacons (5-2) were led by Guidry’s 14 and had three others in double-figures. Ben Voogd shot 60% from the field and scored 12 points and Andrew Miller, despite playing just 14 minutes because of early foul trouble, added eleven points on 5-for-6 shooting. David Berney came off the bench to equal his career high of ten points. Van Loon finished with nine points and a game-high six rebounds while Cameron Marshall led the Beacons with six rebounds.
Walla Walla (2-5) was led by 13 from Jonny Long while Ryan Spady and Mark Moore added twelve each. Gerard Dauphin, who lit up the Beacons for 24 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting, was held to 1-for-8 shooting and five points.
Northwest Christian will be back in action on Friday evening as they play host to Linfield College at 7:30 pm.