EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon Ducks showed why they are final-four contenders this season, shutting down Northwest Christian University, 86-51 in an exhibition.
 
The defending CCC champs were coming off an impressive showing in their first NCAA Division I exhibition, a 15-point loss to Boise State in which NCU led late in the second half.  Tonight the team rallied after a tough first half to show some of their defensive strength in the second, allowing the Ducks to shoot just 32%.
 
Head Coach Luke Jackson said, "We had the momentum of the second half and even though we didn't score in the first half, we only had six turnovers, we got decent shots considering their size and athleticism, and we played within ourselves. I was very proud of the way we defended in the second half.
 
Oregon dropped the first four points before a strong layup from freshman Kylor Kelley got the Beacons on the board. It didn't take long for things to get out of hand as Chris Boucher took over, hitting a dunk and a triple on back-to-back possessions to spark a 21-0 run over the next seven minutes.
 
The Beacons finally started to find some better scoring opportunities including a pair of three-pointers from Jack Hackman and the Ducks took a 50-18 lead into the intermission.
 
The Ducks went on a 10-4 run to open the second half, featuring eight points from Boucher. NCU, however, started to show some resiliency, producing a 7-0 run of their own. The Beacons held Oregon without a field goal for a six minute stretch, climbing back within 30 points, 32-62 on a three-pointer from Brock Rice.
 
Oregon's athleticism started to show once again as the Beacons began fouling at a faster clip. The Ducks were in the bonus with over ten minutes remaining and went 13-for-13 at the line from that point on, never letting NCU get any traction.
 
The Beacons were only outscored by three in the second half, shooting 12-for-25. The visitors had more field goals in the second half, 12 to 10. Jackson said, "It is hard to get back in defensive transition against an explosive and athletic team like the Ducks. When we were able to stop them in transition in the second half, we outplayed them."
 
NCU was led by Kelly who scored nine of his 11 points in the second half. The freshman center added three blocks and six rebounds. Hackman finished with eight points while Brendyn Taylor and Jay Mayernik each scored six. NCU was out-rebounded 49-26 but had 11 offensive boards including five from Mayernik.
 
Boucher ended his night with 25 points, shooting 10-for-13 from the field include three three-pointers. Tyler Dorsey and Dylan Ennis had 11 each and Kave Bigby-Williams came off the bench to score ten.  

The Beacons have played exhibitions with Oregon five times including the last four straight seasons since UO Hall of Famer Luke Jackson took over as the Beacon head coach. Tonight's performance was the best defensive showing in the series as the Ducks averaged just under 100 points in the last three meetings

The Beacons, who are still undefeated at 3-0, will return to counting action on Friday when they begin a two-game series at the University of British Columbia.