EUGENE, Ore. – Trailing by 15 points with less than ten minutes to play, Northwest Christian University mounted a major comeback against Cascade College on Friday night, tying the game with 30 seconds to play before winning in overtime, 88-80. The victory saved a split in the opening weekend of Cascade Collegiate Conference action as the Beacons were then felled by #15 Warner Pacific College on Saturday, 78-67.

Cascade led the Friday night CCC opener 63-48 with 9:46 remaining in the second half when Drew Laird (pictured) sparked the rally, hitting a three-pointer. The Thunderbirds weathered the storm and still held a ten points lead, 69-59 with 5:42 to play. Andrew Miller then fueled another rally, hitting three layups in a two minute span as the Beacons began to inch closer. With just over two minutes to play, the T-Birds clung to a three-point margin, 72-69. The score remained that way through the next five possessions and then with 30 seconds to play, Laird hit another big three-pointer, tying the game. Cascade would miss their final attempt to send the game into overtime.

The Beacons dominated play in the extra session, scoring 12 points at the free-throw line while holding the Thunderbirds to just 20% shooting (2-for-10) to pull away for the eight-point victory. Dylan Perry once again led the charge for the Beacons, scoring 20 points off the bench on 7-for-9 shooting, adding eight rebounds. Miller also pulled down eight off the glass, adding 16 points. Andrew Williams scored 14 and Laird finished the night with twelve.

Head Coach Dave Lipp said, “We showed some great character out there tonight. We made some huge defensive stops and that really gave the team the momentum they needed to get back into it.”

The Thunderbirds (5-1, 0-1 CCC) suffered their first loss of the season despite a 14-point, 17-rebounds effort from Ryan Barker. Elliot Barker added 17 points but Josh Brown led the team in scoring off the bench with 19 points, hitting a trio of three-pointers.

A comeback would not be in the cards on Saturday night against one of the premier teams in the Cascade Conference. Warner Pacific held a 41-28 lead at the intermission, and despite being outplayed by the Beacons during the last 20 minutes, the Knights were able to hold on for the win.

NCU shot just 29% in the first half but rallied to hit on 48% of their second-half shots, outscoring WPC in the period, 39-37, which simply wasn't enough. “Warner Pacific is a very talented and athletic team,” said Lipp. “We couldn't overcome our poor first-half shooting, but we played hard and I was proud of the effort our guys put out.”

The Beacons (6-4, 1-1 CCC) were led by Cameron Marshall and Jordan Whittenburg, each scoring eleven points in the game with a pair of three-pointers apiece. Miller added ten points in the losing effort.

After ten games on the road to open the season, the Beacons will final play their first game at the Morse Event Center on Saturday night, playing host to Pacific University in non-conference action. The Boxers are 4-2 on the season and will come in riding a three-game winning streak.