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NCU 93, Southern Oregon 84 (OT) |
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Stats Comparison |
NCU |
SOU |
|
Points |
93 |
84 |
|
Rebounds |
37 |
33 |
|
Assists |
14 |
10 |
|
Fouls |
17 |
21 |
|
Shooting % |
51.6% |
48.3% |
|
3-point % |
36.4% |
34.5% |
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Free Throw % |
67.9% |
80% |
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NCU |
Leaders |
SOU |
|
Kuemper |
27 |
Points |
28 |
Thompson |
|
Coleman |
9 |
Rebounds |
10 |
Thompson |
|
Byrd |
4 |
Assists |
4 |
Bush |
|
Baker,Coleman |
1 |
Blocks |
1 |
Tedder |
|
Kuemper |
3 |
Steals |
1 |
Thompson,Weber, Tedder |
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Beacon Men's Basketball |
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Box Score
EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University men's basketball needed five extra minutes, but the result was the same the second time around, knocking off Southern Oregon University inside the Morse Event Center, 93-84. The win moves NCU into a tie with SOU for third-place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and complete the season sweep.
Beacon Sophomore Javonte Byrd (pictured) continued his mastery over the Raiders, scoring 25 points including a pair of three-pointers in the final 30 seconds that help to send the game into overtime. He hit four more three pointers on Saturday, after connecting on an NCU-record ten triples when the teams faced off in Ashland last month. Byrd scored 35 in that clash.
Head Coach Luke Jackson said, "I don't know what it is about Southern Oregon, but Javonte always rises to the occasion against them and sitting there with 25 after not doing much in the first half was a huge lift tonight."
NCU (14-9, 8-5 CCC) was led by Austin Kuemper with 27 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Coleton Baker finished with 16 points while Spencer Coleman added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Beacons shot 51.6% in the contest and out-rebounded SOU, 37-33.
Southern Oregon (19-6, 8-5) was led by Eric Thompson, scoring a double-double with 28 points and ten rebounds. Kyle Tedder came off the bench to score 15 points and David Sturner added 12. The Raiders shot 48% in the game but were just 2-for-9 in overtime including a 1-for-7 clip from three-point range.
Southern Oregon opened the game with the first four points on quick jumpers by Thompson and Sturner in the first minute. They improved the edge to seven points, 20-13 on a three-pointer from Tedder with 12:25 remaining when the Beacons began to gain some momentum.
A turnover led to a three-point play for Byrd and the Beacons marched to a 19-2 run, claiming their biggest lead of the game, 32-22 with 5:23 to play as Travis Pacos hit a triple. The Raiders slowly chipped away and after another trey from Tedder late in the half, NCU managed just a 38-34 advantage heading into the overtime.
The second half opened similarly to the first as a Thompson jumper and back-to-back buckets from Sturner got SOU back into the lead, 40-39 with 18:04 to play. Over the next six minutes the teams would trade the lead three times and see the score even three times and the combatants were knotted at 50-50 when the first media timeout came at 11:57.
NCU made a strategic substitution call, bringing in key reserves Nick Sullivan, Remi White and Harley Turner for the four-minute stretch between the media time outs. During that stanza, Southern Oregon was able to put a little distance between themselves and the Beacons, holding a 61-54 lead by the time the next break commenced.
The breather proved to be monumentally significant for NCU as they were able to rally once again down the stretch. The Raiders still held a seven-point lead, 70-63 with under two minutes remaining, but the Beacons would not be denied. Kuemper drove the lane at the 1:36 mark, made his layup and was fouled by Sturner. Not only did he complete the three-point play, but Sturner was force to head to the chairs, collecting his fifth infraction.
SOU's next possession saw Tedder turn the ball over, resulting in another layup for Kuemper and the Beacons were quickly within two points, 70-68. With time running short, it came down to a game of chess, with Thompson heading to the line for a pair of free-throws, which he hit with 37 seconds remaining.
Byrd then connected on a three-pointer, bringing NCU to within 72-71 with 25 seconds remaining. Tedder was fouled and made both complementary buckets, setting up NCU with one final play down by three. Byrd again connected from downtown, hitting with 6.6 seconds remaining and after late triple attempts from Thompson and Tedder fell short for SOU, the game went into overtime.
"We challenged each other with six minutes to go to buckle down and get some stops," said Jackson. "Even though we went down a few points with the reserves in, they spanned the tide and gave us enough rest to be able to have composure down the stretch and that was the most important thing."
The added frame quickly proved to be all NCU as they went ahead 86-77 before the Raiders would connect on their first field goal, a desperation three by Tedder with 51 ticks remaining. The Beacons ended up snagging their largest lead of the night at 93-82 before finishing off the nine-point victory.
With just five games remaining in the regular season, the Cascade Collegiate Conference playoff picture slowly begins to take shape. The College of Idaho (11-2) sits in first place 2 ½ games ahead of the field and became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a win on Saturday night. Northwest (8-4) is alone in second, one-half game ahead of both Northwest Christian and SOU. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will be granted a first-round home game for the conference tournament.
Coach Jackson said, "We put ourselves in a position now to try and hold on to third or at least get a home playoff game. But there is a lot of basketball left to play and as the CCC has shown, anybody can get hot and play well and beat anybody else. This league is full of Division I players, a lot of guys who can shoot the ball and that is why every night is a tough game. We just have to continue to play NCU ball the rest of the way and let the chips fall where they may."
The Beacons will return to the hardwood next Friday night, traveling to Portland to take on Warner Pacific College at 7:30 pm. On Saturday NCU will remain in Portland to face Concordia. Both teams knocked off NCU earlier this season in Eugene.