Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C. – The Northwest Christian University men's basketball team made their first ever trip north of the border this weekend and came away with a split against Vancouver Island University in back-to-back contests.
 
November 28: Vancouver Island 100, Northwest Christian 97 (OT)
 
Saturday's game was a close one, featuring ten lead changes and 12 tie scores, but it didn't start out that way as the Mariners stretched a seven-point lead into a 72-57 advantage after three quarters. NCU rallied over the final 10 minutes, out-scoring VIU 27-12 to force overtime.
 
Overtime was nearly avoided as the Beacons held a three-point lead with seconds to play but a Mariner player was fouled on a three-point attempt and made good on all three free-throw tries to force the extra period.
 
Javonte Byrd (pictured) led the Beacons in scoring, posting 26 as he hit five three-pointers. Jack Hackman added 17 points while Jay Mayernik came off the bench to score 11, including a 9-for-11 performance at the free-throw line.
 
Vancouver Island had five players in double-figures led by John Thompson with 26 and Josh Ross with 20. Bryson Cox scored 17, Jason Fortin added 15 and Chris Parker scored 14 points off the bench.
 
NCU shot 35% in the game and out-rebounded the Mariners, 63-45. Kenny Blackwell had six steals as NCU forced 19 VIU turnovers. Vancouver Island shot 49% in the game and was 6-for-9 in overtime.
 
Head Coach Luke Jackson said, "Step One in basketball will always be to play hard and you can't move on to Step Two until you learn step one. Our guys fought hard to get back into the game but it was just a little late. We made a couple of critical mistakes at the end that cost us, but I was proud of our effort."
 
November 29: Northwest Christian 89, Vancouver Island 79
 
Sunday proved to be another close match with ten lead changes. This time the Beacons went ahead early, taking a 25-15 lead at halftime which proved to be enough for a ten-point victory. The Beacons shot 49% in the game and forced 18 more Mariner turnovers.
 
"I am very proud of our guys," said Jackson. "This is the most complete game we've played all season against a very good team. They are undefeated in their conference so this was a great test heading into conference play."
 
Kenny Blackwell did the most damage, scoring 20 points as he shot 8-12 from the field. Byrd added 15 points and eight assists. Jordan Alexander came off the bench to score 13 points with four assists and Mayernik scored 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds as a reserve. NCU outscored Vancouver Island 43-20 off the bench.
 
Coach Jackson said, "Our bench played their tails off and really set the tone for us with their defense and rebounding. We were able to build off of our second half comeback last night and hopefully this turns a big corner for us going forward."
 
NCU will open up Cascade Collegiate Conference action this weekend, traveling to Klamath Falls to face Oregon Tech on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. Then on Sunday the Beacons will hit Ashland HS for a clash with Southern Oregon University at 3 pm.