#6 NCU 71, #5 Northwest 67 Stats Comparison NCU NU Points 71 67 Rebounds 32 24 Assists 13 12 Fouls 12 19 Shooting % 54.2% 51.9% 3-point % 42.9% 23.5% Free Throw % 56.5% 69.2% NCU Leaders NU Coleman 24 Points 20 Greene Pacos,White 7 Rebounds 7 Grujicic Baker 3 Assists 3 McIntosh,Carter Coleman 1 Blocks 1 Russo,Grujicic Coleman 2 Steals 3 Greene Beacon Men's Basketball > Roster > Schedule/Results > CCC Standings > CCC Stats > NAIA Rankings

Box Score

KIRKLAND, Wash.. – The Northwest Christian University men's basketball team has qualified for the NAIA National Championship Tournament for the first time in school history after winning their semifinal game on Saturday night against Northwest University, 71-67.

With regular season champion College of Idaho winning their semifinal game and hosting the conference championship game against the Beacons on Tuesday, NCU has automatically earned the CCC's second bid to the national championship.

After jumping out to a ten-point lead at halftime, NCU led by as many as 18 points early in the second half. Northwest surged and pulled to within two points but the Beacons hung on in front of a raucous home crowd.

The Beacons shot 54% in the game and out-rebounded the Eagles 32-24, committing just 12 fouls in a disciplined performance. Spencer Coleman and Austin Kuemper combined for 45 points. Northwest shot 52% and was fueled by 20 points from senior Michael Greene.

The hosts jumped out quick to start the game getting back-to-back buckets from Greene as they went ahead 6-0. NCU was able to settle down, using a 10-2 run to grab their first lead. An 11-10 advantage would be NU's last with 13:41 to play as NCU established a 41-31 lead at the intermission.

A Coleman layup with 13:20 to play gave NCU their largest lead, 57-39. The Eagles, however, slowly began to chip away at the deficit and found themselves trailing by six points with eight minutes to go. Kuemper was able to push the advantage to 65-56 at the 5:36 mark on a 17-foot jumper, but Northwest continued to push the tempo with a 7-0 run as a Michael Russo layup with 1:38 to play made it 65-63.

The teams traded free-throws for layups over their next four possessions and the Beacons were ahead 69-67 with 19 seconds to play. Coleman was fouled on the next play but missed both free-throws, giving NU the ball and one final chance. C.J. Carter launched an off-balance trey attempt with nine seconds to play but his effort came up short. Travis Pacos hauled in the rebound and escaped the foul attempts by Northwest, feeding the ball to Javonte Byrd for a crowd-silencing dunk for a 71-67 final score.

Coleman finished with a game-high 24 points, shooting 9-for-13 from the field. Kuemper added 21 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Pacos finished with seven points and seven boards while Remi White came off the bench for six points, seven rebounds and a team-high three assists.

Northwest (20-11) had four players in double-figures led by Greene's 20. Nemanja Grujicic added 16 points and seven rebounds. Michael Russo and Carter each posted 13 points in the loss. NU will now sit patiently as they await the NAIA at-large bids to be announced on Wednesday.

In the other semifinal game, No. 1 seed College of Idaho took care of No. 7 seed Oregon Tech, 77-55 behind 20 points and 11 rebounds from Taylor Pruett. The Yotes will host NCU at 7:00 pm on Tuesday for the tournament championship. With both NCU and CI already headed to the NAIA tournament, the game will have the utmost significance for both teams as they jockey for seeding and national exposure before the big dance.

The NAIA National Championship Tournament will begin March 12, hosted by The College of the Ozarks, located in Point Lookout, Missouri, four miles from the tourist hub of Branson.