McMINNVILLE, Ore. – For the fourth time this season a Northwest Christian University men's basketball game has come down to the final seconds and for the third time a last-ditch shot gave NCU the victory in a 72-70 defeat of Linfield College on Monday evening. This time it was senior Dylan Perry hitting the game winning layup with just four seconds remaining.

After leading by as many as 16 points early in the second half, the Beacons allowed the Wildcats to claw their way back, eventually tying the game on a three-pointer from Jon Weber with 38 seconds remaining. On the next possession the Beacons set up a final play and got the ball to Perry, who laid in the winning shot with four seconds to play.

Linfield's Eric Olson dominated play in the first half, drilling five three-pointers in the opening period to keep the hosts close. He hit a pair of treys in the games first five minutes, staking the Wildcats to a 13-12 lead. With eight minutes remaining the half Jordan Whittenburg got in on the long-range action, hitting a three-pointer to put NCU ahead 23-21. They would roll into the intermission with a 32-31 lead.

The Beacons come out of the blocks quickly to start the second half, dominating the firsts ten minutes of play. NCU rattled off a 9-2 rally to open the frame and soon led 60-44. Linfield couldn't go quietly, however, taking over with a 23-8 run that brought them within one point, 68-67 with under a minute to play. Andrew Miller hit a bucket for the Beacons to give them a three-point edge, leading to the tying trey from Weber and the game-winner from Perry.

The Beacons (5-2) shot 57% in the game, including a 17-for-28 (61%) clip in the second half. NCU was 50% from three-point range, led by a 20-point performance from Whittenburg, who was 2-for-3 from outside. Perry finished the game with 16 points and four rebounds. Cameron Marshall had a strong all-around game, scoring 14 points along with team highs of 8 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals.

“This was a really good win for us,” said Head Coach Dave Lipp. “The guys really hung together and their character showed through. Last year's team couldn't win a game like this, but these guys are really working well together and can do some great things.”

Linfield (0-1) was led by Olson who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. K.C. Wiser added 13 points and Weber finished with eleven points and four assists.

Northwest Christian will be back in action next Tuesday as they travel to Newberg, Oregon to take on George Fox University (0-3). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.