EUGENE, Ore. – After trailing by 14 points with just under nine minutes remaining, the Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team fought back to force overtime before knocking off Concordia University on Friday evening, 96-92. Ben Voogd (pictured) hit a game-tying three-pointer with under ten seconds to go in regulation and six players were in double-figures for the Beacons, who shot 57% from the field.
A back-and-fourth first half saw five lead changes and eight ties, but over the final 3:23, the Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 43-35 at the intermission. Cameron Marshall had scored eight of NCU’s first ten points, but got two quick fouls and was forced to the bench. In addition, Voogd scored just six points in the first half and had four turnovers. As a team, Northwest Christian out-shot the Cavs 58% to 40% in the half, but turned the ball over 11 times, including three in the final three minutes.
Concordia continued to hold court in the second half and led 68-54 with just 8:51 remaining. The Beacons, who continued their hot shooting and were minimizing their turnovers, began to scratch and claw their way back. Over the next six minutes, the Beacons outscored Concordia 24-8, capped off by three free-throws after a double-foul and technical by Dustin Hiebert.
The lead was short lived as Alex Tiefenthaler answered with a layup and after trading baskets, the score was 80-80 as the clock ticked under one minute. Concordia took back the lead once again on an off-balance shot-clock beating jumper by Gage Aker and they expanded their lead to four, 84-80 on a pair of free-throws with 33 ticks remaining.
Then, it was time for Voogd to take over. An uncontested layup with 18 seconds brought NCU to within two, but also meant a quick foul call on the Cavs next possession. Jason Holzwarth was sent to the line to shoot two, but he missed the back-end of the double-bonus and Brent McKee hauled in the board. Voogd then got the ball with the game on the line and with eight seconds to play, drained a fade-away three pointer from the left corner to tie the game and send it to overtime.
It was more of the same in overtime with three more ties and five lead changes, but with two minutes to play the Beacons went ahead for good on a three-pointer from Quentin Guidry. Voogd dropped in another layup with 23 seconds and then hit one of two free throws with two seconds to play to ice the win.
After the extended game Head Coach Corey Anderson said, “We were trying to be to creative in the first half, so we switched to a man-on-man defense in the second half and we tried to keep everything simple. The guys started to make big plays and once we put it into overtime, I think we had the confidence to get it done.”
The Beacons (6-12, 2-4 CCC) were led by Marshall with a season-high23, shooting 9-for-12 from the field. “Cam hasn’t been playing well lately,” said Anderson, “and we’re not really sure why, but he really had a breakout game tonight.”
After his four first-half turnovers, Voogd went without a turnover throughout the second half and overtime, finishing the game with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Guidry came off the bench to score 16, hitting three of NCU’s eight three-pointers. Andrew Miller, Kellen Spicer and Erik Quick-Warner each scored ten with Quick-Warner adding seven assists and three steals. McKee scored seven but hauled in a game-high nine rebounds as the Beacons out-boarded Concordia, 37-31.
Concordia (11-5, 2-4), who are 2-5 in their last seven games after a 9-0 start to the season, had four players in double-figures led by 20-point performances from Hiebert and Jourdan Sweeney. Hiebert hit six three-pointers. Tiefenthaler came off the bench for the Cavs to scored 18 points and nine rebounds as he shot 7-for-7 at the free-throw line, and Gage scored 13 along with a game-high nine assists.
The Beacons will turn around and face #9 Warner Pacific University on Saturday night with a 7:30 pm tip-off.