EUGENE, Ore. – A strong defensive effort got NCU the win. A College of Idaho win got the Beacons within one game of third place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Beacons knocked off Multnomah on Friday night, 68-48 as they held the Lions to 23.7% shooting.
 
The Beacons improve to 16-8 on the season and 13-4 in the CCC. In Idaho on Friday night, the Yotes knocked off No. 22 Oregon Tech, pushing the third-place Owls to 14-3 in conference play. With three games remaining and a matchup with OIT on the horizon, NCU remains in the hunt for their best finish in school history.
 
NCU didn't have their strongest offensive night of the season, shooting just 39% from the field including a 9-for-32 effort from three-point range, but the defense got the job done, setting the tone early. Multnomah was held to just one field goal on 12 attempts in the first quarter as NCU built a 17-4 lead. It was the fewest points ever allowed by the Beacons in a single quarter.
 
"We defended really well tonight and we got great stops early," said head coach Heath Alexander.
 
By halftime, the lead had grown to 38-12 as NCU posted another record with the fewest points ever allowed in a half.
 
NCU was led by Hanna Mack (pictured), posting a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. The Beacon bench out-scored the Multnomah reserves 32-12 including 13 points and eight rebounds from Conner Borigo and nine points from Niki Duncan on three three-pointers. Starter Jenna Christenson also hit three from deep and ended the game with 11 points.
 
Coach Alexander said, "Our posts gave us a nice presence in the middle and we made some shots to get things going. Kenzie Weston did a great job on D and Jenna did a good job playing the majority of the point guard minutes tonight."
 
Multnomah (6-19, 4-13 CCC) was led by Miranda Schmillen, scoring a game-high 18 points. Lacie Kamer added eight points, seven rebounds and a game-high three steals and Katherine Edmonds scored four points while leading the Lions with nine boards.
 
The Beacons will be back in action on Saturday night when they take on Warner Pacific (4-23, 2-15) in the regular-season home finale. Saturday will also be senior night with festivities set to take place during halftime of the men's basketball game.
 
Multnomah heads to Salem on Saturday to face Corban. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 5:30 pm.