EUGENE, Ore. – The undefeated NCU men's basketball team suffered their first set-back on Tuesday night, dropping the annual exhibition game against the University of Oregon, 92-44.
 
Head Coach Luke Jackson said, "In a loss like this there are a lot of teachable moments. The guys are able to have some self-reflection moving forward and maybe we lost a little of the overconfidence I think we started to develop after our four wins. You have to give Oregon a lot of credit. They took us out pretty much everything we wanted to run and their size and athleticism effected everything."
 
The Beacons drew first blood with a Kenny Blackwell three-pointer but it was a Duck dominated evening from there on. NCU finished the night shooting just 23% from the field, but held Oregon to just 45%, the lowest shooting percentage for the Ducks in the four-game history between the teams.
 
There were other bits of silver lining as well. Oregon's Dillon Brooks (pictured, right) scored 20 points in the first half but was held to just six in the second half. The Ducks also needed nearly 35 minutes to get their one and only three-pointer. UO finished with a 5.9% shooting clip from beyond the arc while the Beacons drained six treys on 18 attempts.
 
"I was proud of the way we competed and never gave up," said Jackson. Defensively we had some very solid moments."
 
The Ducks were led by Brooks' 26 points as he shot 10-for-12 from the field and completed a double-double with 11 rebounds. Tyler Dorsey added 15 while Elgin Cook and Dwayne Benjamin scored 13 each. Chris Boucher made his Oregon debut with 11 points and seven blocked shots.
 
NCU was led by Jack Hackman (pictured, left), scoring 12 points including three triples. Nick Sullivan came off the bench to score nine while Austin Kuemper and Kenny Blackwell scored seven points apiece.
 
The Beacons will look to regroup for their next game, another exhibition for NCU as they travel to Corvallis to take on Oregon State for the first time at 4:30 pm on November 14. It will be a counting game for OSU and their home opener.
 
Coach Jackson said, "OSU is going to be another tough team to play and you just hope as the guys continue to improve every practice to get ready. These games are a real positive for us because it helps the guys realize we can't rely on our size and athleticism all year long and we have to clean up our execution."