In a tightly contested match-up the entire night, Northwest would break out to an early 18-9 lead over the Owls after seven minutes of play. The teams would trade baskets until the 9:54 mark when OIT would cut the NU 8 point lead to three points, 24-21 on Mihajlo Matic’s 3-pointer from the corner with 7:10 to go in the first half. NU’s Jordan Call would tip in his own miss to increase the Eagles lead back to 5 points, 26-21, but OIT would answer with Kyle Gomez’s tip in of a Bryant Sentman shot at the 6:16 mark. Following a Northwest turnover, Gomez would close the gap to one, 26-25 with his driving layup at the 5:30 mark. After two NU missed shots, Scotty Riddle would give OIT their first lead of the game, 28-26 with his trey with 5:03 to go. The game would then see-saw back and forth with two ties and two lead changes until NU’s Tyler Mendezona would steal an OIT pass and drive the length of the court for his layup and give Northwest U. a one point, 38-37 lead with 1:12 to go. Neither team would find the basket the remainder of the half as the Eagle lead would stand as the buzzer would sound.

 

The second half would prove to be more of the same as both teams would battle for the lead. NU’s Greg George would hit a jumper and teammate Rich Skillman would make one of two free throws two put the Eagles up 41-39, but Bryant Sentman would tie the score at 41-41 with his driving layup with 17:21 on the scoreboard. After a 43-all tie, Northwest would go on an 8-2 run capped off by Jordan Call’s layup off an assist by Tyson Christie to make it, 51-45, Eagles with 12:45 left in the game. But OIT would answer with a 6-0 run of their own on two 3-pointers by Scotty Riddle and David Clarke to tie the game once again at 51-51 at the 11:27 mark and then take a 58-55 lead on Joseph Foster’s layup with 8:53 left in the game. The teams would continue to trade offensive punches as NU’s Rich Skillman would score on a drive to the basket and freshman Michael Greene would tip in a missed 3-point attempt and would be fouled on the play. He would complete the 3-point play to give NU a 59-58 lead with 7:55 left on the clock. After Joseph Foster would tie the score at 60-all (7:36), Northwest would take the lead for good after a 9-2 run punctuated by a Rich Skillman steal and jumper by Greg Peters from 5 feet out. Tech would put the pressure on the Eagles with full and half-court traps and close the gap to 3 points, 71-68 with 43 seconds to go in the game, but NU would answer with a Greg George layup and convert 3 of 4 free throws to hold on for the 76-68 upset.

 

The loss would be only the second loss on the road for Oregon Tech as they remain perfect at home with a 13-0 record. Northwest improved its home record to 11-2.

 

Northwest U. (18-5, 10-4 CCC) was led by 6-9 senior, Greg George (Seattle, Wash.) who finished with 20 points. George missed the first meeting between the two teams in Klamath Falls as he was on duty in Texas with ROTC training that weekend. Teammate and 6-8 senior, Greg Peters (Belmont, St. Vincent) scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his double-double while junior Jordan Call (Kirkland, Wash.) also scored 15 points for the Eagles who are now in a tie for second in the Cascade Conference. NU shot 50% from 2-point and 3-point range tonight and outrebounded Oregon Tech 39-29.

 

Oregon Tech (22-4, 13-2 CCC) was led by Kyle Gomez’s 18 points and senior guard Joseph Foster finished with 12 points for the Owls from Klamath Falls, Ore. David Clarke and Scotty Riddle each contributed 8 points for Tech. Northwest held OIT to 36% shooting on the night and 27% from the 3-point line. Tech shot an impressive 100% from the free throw line making 14 of 14 attempts.

“Any time you can defeat a Danny Miles coached team it’s an accomplishment,” commented Northwest head coach, John Van Dyke, “and I’m really proud of our guys for following and sticking to the game plan the entire night. Oregon Tech will always battle to the end and we had to maintain our concentration for 40 minutes to pull off the victory. We got great play from our starters and guys coming off the bench tonight. It was a total team effort.”

 

Northwest now hits the road for a two game swing in Portland, Ore. next weekend as they face Concordia on Friday, Feb 11 and Warner Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 12. Oregon Tech will return to Klamath falls and will host Portland Bible on Feb. 9 and then head to Ashland for a match up with their rival, Southern Oregon on Feb. 12.