EUGENE, Ore. – For the entire 2008-2009 season, the Northwest Christian men's basketball team has seemed to be on the cusp of a big upset victory, a breakthrough win to push them over the top. Tonight was another such attempt, but once again the bid fell short as #13 Warner Pacific held on for a 62-54 victory.

The Knights led by two points at the intermission after a significant last chance layup went in from Kenan Dizdarevic at the buzzer after he went coast-to-coast off a steal. WPC held a 32-31 edge at the break. After opening the second half by trading baskets, the Knights emerged with a 42-35 lead with 16 minutes to play off back-to-back dunks from Kaylone Riley. The seven point lead would be their biggest of the night, but it wouldn't last.

Over the next twelve minutes the Beacons clawed their way back, and with 4:23 remaining NCU tied the game, 51-51 on a jumper in the paint by Andrew Miller. A driving layup from Eric Quick-Warner gave the Beacons their first lead of the half, and after another Riley dunk, Dylan Perry drew a foul on the other end and gave the Beacons another lead, 54-53 with a minute and a half remaining.

The Knights, however, would not be denied. Senior Adam Moore, the second-leading scorer in the Cascade Conference (21 ppg), had been held to just nine points over the first 39 minutes of the game. Then, with just over one minute to play, Moore hit a fade away three-pointer, giving WPC a two-point lead. The final minute saw NCU miss on a pair of inside baskets and the Knights connected on four straight free-throw attempts to put the victory on ice.

“We played a great game tonight, we just couldn't get the win,” said head coach Dave Lipp. “We missed a few lay ins and free throws in the last few minutes and those mistakes really added up. Warner Pacific made the big plays at the end. Adam Moore is one of the best players in the league and we handled him pretty well but the best players make them when they count and he sure did that tonight.”

The Knights (17-5, 10-4) claim sole possession of first place in the tight Cascade Conference with the victory, holding a ½ game lead over four teams, all tied at 9-4. With two of those teams playing each other tomorrow night, there will be a potential for four teams to be tied for the CCC lead with just six games remaining in the regular season.

Northwest Christian (12-10, 6-7) retains sole possession of sixth place in the conference. The Beacons were led tonight by Quick-Warner, scoring 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting, along with six rebounds and four assists. Miller added 12 points and Perry finished the night with nine points and ten rebounds.

Warner Pacific was led by Moore, who finished the night with a game-high 14, scoring five in the final minute. Riley closed out the night with 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots and Aukai Wong added eleven points and four assists, hitting 3-for-5 from three-point range.

NCU will be back in action tomorrow night as they play host to Cascade College. The Beacons knocked off the Thunderbirds in Portland earlier this season in overtime, 88-80. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm.