EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian men's basketball team came away with a split this weekend as they traveled to Washington for a pair of Cascade Collegiate Conference games. The Beacons continued their hot shooting from the free-throw line, hitting on 90% of their shots, keeping them competitive in two well-played ball games.

The weekend opened on Friday night with a loss at the hands of #16 Evergreen State College, 87-82. The Geoducks had a strong shooting night, hitting 58% of their buckets as they denied a late comeback attempt by NCU. The Beacons held the CCC's leading scorer, Nate Menefee, to just six points in the first half, but Menefee took control over the final 20 minutes, finishing with 33 points on 12-for-20 shooting.

The Beacons were led by Andrew Miller, scoring 19 points off of 70% shooting. Both Dylan Perry and Jordan Whittenburg (picture) came off the bench to score 16 points as Whittenburg shot 4-for-6 from three-point range. Erik Quick-Warner was a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe and finished with 12 points.

On Saturday night the Beacons again trailed early and were eventually tied with Northwest University at half-time, 33-33. NCU then held the Eagles to just 42% shooting in the second half and pulled away with a 75-70 victory. Cameron Marshall scored 17 points to lead Northwest Christian (11-8, 5-5 CCC), followed closely by Whittenburg who made the most of his return to the starting lineup, scoring 14. Quick-Warner went without a miss from the line again (6-for-6) en route to ten points.

Head Coach Dave Lipp said, “We played really well on Friday night, we just couldn't contain their shooting. On Saturday it was definitely a complete team effort for the win. We out-rebounded them, held them under 50% shooting, and shot well at the free-throw line again and all those things together add up to victory.”

The Beacons have boosted their season free-throw shooting to .754 (367-for-487) which leads the Cascade Conference and is the second-highest total in the NAIA. Quick-Warner has now hit 31 consecutive free-throws, setting a new school-record.

The Beacons will be back in action this weekend as they travel to face Corban College on Friday in Salem, followed by a trip to Concordia on Saturday night to take on the Cavaliers. Both games are scheduled for a 7:30 pm tip-off.