EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian men's basketball team has their highest winning streak since 2010 after knocking off Linfield College on Saturday night, 79-71. NCU shot a blistering 65% in the game including a 10-for-12 performance from senior Travis Pacos (pictured).
 
Both teams were unconscious from the field in the first half as each school shot over 72% with Linfield establishing a 50-44 lead. While the Beacons continued to find the net in the second half the NCU defense also woke up, holding Linfield to just 21 points as they came back to seal the road victory.
 
Linfield led by as many as 12 points in the first half, holding a 43-31 advantage with 4:26 to play. NCU cut the lead to three with a Devyn Iglehart three-pointer and a trio of steals-turned-layups.
 
The Beacons finally tied the game with a Javonte Byrd three-pointer at the 14:16 mark of the second half and took their first lead, 59-57, with an Austin Kuemper layup on the next possession. NCU never trailed again.
 
Northwest Christian (7-2) was led by the 22-point night from Pacos who added five assists and four steals to his impressive shooting display. Javonte Byrd came off the bench to score 20 points, shooting 8-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. Iglehart was also 3-for-4 from downtown, scoring 13 points. Kuemper and Michael Loomis each scored eight points with the latter posting a game-high six assists. The Beacons forced Linfield into 16 turnovers on the back of a 14-steal night.
 
Linfield (1-7) was led by Ryan Potter, scoring 18 points. Chase Walker scored 12, Trevor Howard added 11 and Mason Rodby kicked in ten. With so many shots finding the nylon, there weren't a lot of rebounds to go around. Rodby led all players with 8 as the Wildcats owned the battle of the boards, 19-18.
 
Northwest Christian will ride their winning streak back to Eugene where they host Northwest Indian College on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.