EUGENE, Ore. – With their first Cascade Collegiate Conference regular-season championship in the rearview mirror, the Northwest Christian University men's basketball team now prepares to make a run towards a conference tournament title, something else that has eluded the program during its first eight seasons in the CCC.
 
The No. 12 Beacons own the No. 1 seed for the CCC tournament, and will have home court advantage for as long as their run lasts. Things get underway on Wednesday night as the Beacons play host to the No. 8 seed, Northwest University at 7 pm.
 
NCU swept the regular-season series from the Eagles, claiming a 71-66 victory in Kirkland in January and a 68-57 win at home in February. Omar Richards and Kenny Blackwell (pictured, left) each enjoyed playing against NU, combining for 69 points in two games. Richards had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds on the road and Blackwell recorded a season-high with 21 points in the home game, shooting 4-for-5 from three-point range.
 
Northwest was picked to finish eighth in the pre-season coaches poll and that was precisely what they did, going 8-12 in the conference. The Eagles were 8th in scoring (79.5 ppg) and fifth in defense (78.3 ppg allowed). They were best at the free-throw line where they rank third in the CCC, averaging .730.
 
Against the Beacons, Michael Dupree (pictured, right) and Dak Shagren each had big games. Shagren scored 20 points in the first meeting while Dupree led all players with 25 points the last time NU was in Eugene.
 
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the Semifinals on Saturday night. NCU would host with a victory and Northwest would be on the road, traveling to face the highest remaining seed.