EUGENE, Ore.  – After closing out the first half on a 19-1 run, the Northwest Christian University men's basketball team held strong, knocking off defending NAIA National Champion Oregon Tech on Saturday night, 63-52. It was the lowest point total ever for the Owls in the 44 games played in the series.

The NCU defense was once again doing most of the damage, frustrating OIT as they held the Owls without a field goal for the final 12 minutes of the half, forcing three turnovers and ten missed shot attempts. Meanwhile, the Beacons connected on 8-of-13 buckets down the stretch to build a 36-18 half-time lead.

Oregon Tech did their best to make a game of it in the second half, shooting 4-for-8 from three-point range as they climbed their way back to within eight points on two occasions, mid-way through the second session. Both times Mihajlo Matic drained three-pointers to make it a single-digit deficit, but both times Trevor Parker had the answer for NCU, hitting treys of his own.

The Beacons (7-4, 1-1 CCC) were led by Parker and Brody McGowan, who each scored 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting. McGowan added seven rebounds as NCU out-boarded OIT, 38-36. Jordan Buhler (pictured) had another solid all-around game, scoring 13 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Jordan Myers connected on five assists to lead the Beacons.

Oregon Tech (8-4, 1-1) was held to just 32% shooting for the game and hit on just 7-of-27 attempts in the first half. Matic finished with a team-high 16 points while Josh Wiseman and Josh Johnson scored ten points each. The Oregon Tech bench was outscored 27-8.

Northwest Christian will be back in action on Tuesday night, hosting George Fox University (3-3) for a 7:30 non-conference tilt.