ATHERTON, Calif. – A perfect season was broken up on Wednesday night as the Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team found themselves on the losing end for the first time, falling to Menlo College, 66-62.
It was a back-and-forth battle for the Beacons as they took on the NAIA DI school out of the Golden State Athletic Conference. The game came down to a battle of free-throws however and the Oaks hit four in the final minute to seal the win.
NCU jumped out to an early 8-0 lead behind three-point buckets from Kenny Blackwell and Omar Richards (pictured). Menlo recovered quickly however and used an 11-0 run of their own to take back a lead which they wouldn’t relinquish until the second half. The Oaks went ahead by as many as ten points in the half but an Austin Kuemper triple in the final minute made it a six-point gane and at the intermission, Menlo led 35-29. The Oaks shot 8-for-12 from three-point range to keep the Beacons at bay.
Within two minute of the opening whistle for the second half, Menlo was leading 40-31. NCU responded and fought back to take a 47-46 lead on a Javonte Byrd three-pointer with 11:03 to play. Over the next seven minutes the teams traded leads five times.
NCU had gone ahead 55-50 on a layup from Richards when the Oaks caught fire with a 10-0 run. The lead was back in the home team’s hands, where it would remain. The Beacons got the game to within two points, 62-60 with just over a minute to play. After a fruitless possession by Menlo, the Beacons had the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead.
With 14 seconds remaining, a bad pass in the paint turned the ball back over to Menlo and an ensuing foul allowed the Oaks to seal the victory at the line.
NCU (5-1) ended the night shooting just 44% at the charity stripe. The team out-rebounded Menlo 32-29 and shot 43% compared to a 41% clip for the Oaks.
Jay Mayernik came off the bench to lead the way for the Beacons, scoring 16 points as he shot 7-for-9 from the field. Richards added 11 points and Byrd finished with ten. Kuemper and Jack Hackman each registered seven rebounds to own the team lead.
Menlo (4-2) had four players in double-figures with Adam Griffin coming off the bench to post a game-high 17. The hired gun went 5-for-7 from three-point range. Tyler Evans added 13 while Brad Sawin and Mikey Eggleton each scored eleven.
The Beacons will return to Oregon and head to Portland on Saturday for their next non-conference match. NCU faces a familiar foe in former CCC power Concordia University. The Cavaliers (0-2) are now members of the NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).