OLYMPIA, Wash. – For the second straight night the Northwest Christian University men's basketball team was able to seal a victory at the free-throw line, hitting seven-of-eight attempts in the final 34 seconds to hold off a spirited Evergreen State College team, 89-85.  
 
The Beacons, ranked No. 19 in the NAIA national coaches' poll, had five players score in double-digits as they improved to 13-4 on the season, including a 7-1 mark in the CCC. NCU has won six straight games.
 
The Beacons led for the final 30 minutes of the game, save for one tie, but the Geoducks didn't go down without a fight. NCU had led by as many as nine points but that advantage was slowly whittled away until a Danny Powell layup at the 2:46 mark made it 77-77.
 
NCU responded with six straight points on an Austin Kuemper three-point-play, a layup by Kenny Blackwell and a free-throw from Nick Sullivan, putting the visitors ahead 83-77 with 34 seconds remaining.
 
Evergreen hit a three-pointer on the other end to bring it within three, but NCU iced the game as Blackwell connected on four free-throws and Donta Harris added two more. The final two by Blackwell gave the Beacons an 89-82 lead with four seconds to play and an uncontested triple for Evergreen resulted in the closer final score.
 
Due to a death in the family just before Christmas, senior Javonte Byrd has been absent from the team for over two weeks. In his stead, the team has gone 3-0 due in large part to the play of senior Donta Harris off the bench. The guard was at it again on Saturday, finishing with 19 points including a 3-for-5 effort from three-point range.
 
Jack Hackman was also 5-for-6 from long range on the way to his own 19-point effort while Omar Richards scored 14. Kuemper and Blackwell added 12 points apiece. Kuemper tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds and Blackwell led all players with ten assists for his third double-double of the season.
 
The Beacons shot 49% overall including a 9-for-18 clip from three-point range but perhaps the biggest statistic was foul shooting with the Beacons connecting for 20-of-21 from the line. Head Coach Luke Jackson said, "To get two wins on the road in this league is always tough. It was another gutsy win from the guys, surviving some early foul trouble, and we were almost perfect from the line which shows how focused we were. I think the guys really wanted to rally on behalf of Javonte not being able to be with the team."
 
Evergreen (6-11, 3-6) was led by Alix Hernandez who was 8-for-12 from the field, scoring a game-high 24 points. Otis scored 21 and Powell finished with 20 as the trio combined for 76% of the total offense. The Geoducks shot 55% from the field but lost the rebounding battle, 34-25.
 
The Beacons are back in action on Monday night with an intercity non-conference game against New Hope Christian. NCU will look to maintain their share of first-place in the conference on Friday night when they return home for a big CCC clash against No. 24 Warner Pacific (10-6, 6-2) at 7:30 pm.