EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Christian University jumped out to an early 16-point lead and never looked back, taking down Portland Bible College on Saturday night, 82-52. Austin Kuemper paced the Beacons with 16 points.
 
NCU (4-2) shot 50% in the game after a dominant first half in which the punched in 21 of 35 attempts from the field. The Beacons forced 24 Wildcat turnovers and PBC (1-7) shot just 31% from the floor.
 
Defense was clearly made a priority heading into the contest as Portland Bible was held without a field goal for the first six minutes of the game. Northwest Christian took advantage and established an 18-2 lead to open the contest. The Beacons led by as many as 25 before settling for a 48-27 lead at the intermission.
 
Portland Bible slowly chipped away in the second stanza, eventually climbing to within 13 points, 63-50 on a three-pointer by Bryce Layne with eight minutes remaining. A layup from Layne two minutes later would end up being the final field goal for the Wildcats, however, as the Beacons went on a 17-2 run to end the night.
 
Kuemper provided the team-high in scoring with 16 points while tying for the team lead with five boards. Travis Pacos was all over the court, scoring 13 points with five rebounds and five steals.  Jack Hackman and Javonte Byrd scored ten points each. Devyn Iglehart was the catalyst for NCU's first-half fireworks, collecting seven assists before the break. He finished the night with seven points and seven assists.
 
Layne scored a game-high 21 points for Portland Bible, hitting a trio of three-pointers. Mozeek Waggener was the only other player in double-digits, scoring ten points. Raymon Taylor led all players with ten rebounds.
 
NCU will now be off the court until after the Thanksgiving holiday and will be back in action on December 2 when Lewis & Clark College pays a visit at 7 p.m.