EUGENE, Ore. – A thirteen-point halftime deficit meant nothing to the Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team as they rallied in the second half for a 69-63 victory over Southern Oregon University. Ben Voogd led the charge, scoring 20 of his game-high 25 points after the intermission.
Southern Oregon started out with the hot hand, shooting 48% in the first half as they held a double-digit lead for most of the period before taking a 36-23 lead into the break. The Beacons shot just 34% from the field in the first half, but turned things around in the second half, shooting 56% as they overcame the deficit with a 19-point scoring margin in the frame.
Southern still held a 42-30 lead with 16:30 remaining, but that was when the Beacons caught fire, going on a 22-4 run over the next six minutes, tying the game at 46-46 on a pair of free-throws from Cameron Marshall with 10:25 to go, and then holding a 52-46 edge after a three-pointer from Brent McKee.
Over the final eight minutes NCU went up by as many as nine points, and the Raiders never got closer than three as Voogd scored nine points in the final four minutes, including seven free throws to seal the win.
Voogd had a strong night all around for the Beacons (10-15, 6-7 CCC), scoring 25 points with nine rebounds and five assists. McKee came off the bench with a strong performance for the second straight night, scoring 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, along with six rebounds. Marshall finished with five points and eight rebounds and Andrew Miller brought his career scoring total to 999 points with a ten-point night, adding six boards, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot.
Southern Oregon (11-11, 3-10 CCC) was led in defeated by David Grant, scoring 16 points with six rebounds. Austin Wolfer added 12 points and six boards while the Raiders leading scorer Jarrad Childs was held to ten points. SOU shot just 22% in the second half.
Northwest Christian will be back in action next Friday as they travel to Portand to face Warner Pacific University at 7:30 pm. NCU will look to avenge a 81-78 overtime loss the #9 ranked Knights back on January 9th.