EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University men's basketball team tied the school record with their 26^th win of the season, taking down Oregon Tech 74-57 in the semifinals of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament presented by U.S. Bank.
 
The top-seeded Beacons erased any bad memory of their regular season finale one week ago, which OIT won by 19-points ending NCU's 13-game home winning streak. Tonight it was a stellar defensive effort that got the job done, holding the Owls to 29% shooting.
 
The Beacons led wire-to-wire, building a 14-point halftime lead, 26-12, as they held Oregon Tech to just 6-for-32 including a 1-for-13 mark from distance. The lead grew to 21 points midway through the second half as the game was never really in doubt.

Head Coach Luke Jackson said, "This was a great team win and I'm proud of the way we played. Defensively, we got back to our fundamentals and battled on the boards. This is great to get some momentum going forward against what was a very hot team in OIT."
 
NCU (26-6) had four players in double-figures, led by 17 points apiece from Kenny Blackwell and Jack Hackman. Hackman shot 3-for-4 from three-point range, bringing his season total to 73 treys to set a new NCU single-season record.
 
Austin Kuemper added 15 points and six rebounds and Javonte Byrd scored 13 points. With Omar Richards limited to just nine minutes due to early fouls in both halves, Jay Mayernik (pictured) made the most of his extended playing time, scoring six points and two blocks, along with a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
Oregon Tech was led by Lavar Moore with 21 points. The senior shot 7-for-20 from the field and scored 19 of his points in the second half. Austen Flint was the only other Owl in double-digits, scoring ten points and three assists. Brandon Halter added nine points on a trio of triples and Andrew Weber came off the bench to score four points to go with a team-high eight boards.
 
OIT will sit and wait to see how the at-large berths shake out for the NAIA national tournament. The Beacons, already guaranteed a trip to Branson by virtue of their regular season championship, will look to improve their seed on Tuesday as they host #3 Warner Pacific in the tournament championship game at 7:00 pm. Warner Pacific won on the road on Saturday over Southern Oregon, 97-80 to secure their spot in the title clash. 

"Tuesday night should be fun," said Jackson. "We are excited to host such a great game."