Eagles Win Honda Classic Tournament
ABBOTSFORD, BC - The Northwest University Eagles defeated the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (Canada West-CIS), 86-81, to capture the First annual Honda Way tournament in Abbotsford, BC tonight.
Fraser Valley came out strong and quickly built a lead which they held onto through the first quarter, leading by 8 points after one. In the second quarter, the Cascades maintained their lead and went into the locker room up by six points.
The third quarter proved to be the Cascades undoing as they were outscored by 19 points and the Eagles would take a 13 point lead while shooting 49% for the half. In the fourth quarter, UFV would pull to within 5 points, but it wouldn't be enough as NU would close out the game for the victory, improving their season record to 3-0.
The Eagles were led by senior Jordan Call with a team high 20 points including 4-7 from the 3-point line. Another NU senior, Tyler Mendezona, added 19 points and a third senior, Ahmaad Cook, scored 15 points in the tournament win. Sophomore Michael Greene led NU with 9 rebounds.
UFV was led by Sam Freeman with a 24 point performance. James York (Richland, Wash., Montana Tech), Jasper Moedt and Sheldon Bjorgaard, each added 10 points in the loss to the Eagles. Kyle Grewal led all Cascades 12 total rebounds. UFV held the edge in rebounds, 39-32.
NU's sophomore forward, Michael Greene, was named the MVP of the tournament following the championship game. Senior Jordan Call earned all-tournament honors averaging 18.5 points per game and shooting 45% for the two games.
"I'm really proud our team as they kept their poise when we got down and played disciplined basketball," stated NU head coach, John Van Dyke. "I felt we grew as a team this weekend, our veterans played like the experienced players they are and our young players made strides in improving and the positive thing is we will continue to improve."
NU returns home and will play their fourth Canadian team on Saturday night when they host Quest University from Squamish, BC at 8 p.m.