EUGENE, Ore. – Not a bad way to start the season. The Northwest Christian men's basketball team began their 2019-2020 campaign on Friday night, going toe-to-toe with Lewis-Clark State College before falling in overtime, 102-96.
 
The Warriors, a NAIA Division I Fab-Four team last season, and currently ranked No. 23, had eight fewer field goals than the Beacons but were sent to the free-throw line 52 times where they made 71% of their tries. NCU was just 12-for-25 at the charity stripe, which negated a strong shooting night in which they hit 56% and drained ten three pointers.
 
The biggest trey came as time expired in regulation. After leading throughout the entire first half and most of the second, the Beacons found themselves trailing by five points with less than a minute to play, 82-77. Playing their first ever game in a NCU uniform, freshmen Cole McAninch and Stevie Schlabach stepped up huge, combining for three treys in the final 44 seconds including a buzzer beating drop from the left corner by McAninch to send the game into overtime.
 
Second-year head coach Eddie Alexander said, "We made mistakes like a young team tonight, but we overcame them with a lot of hustle and hard work. We need to get much better on defense and rebounding, but I am extremely excited for the guy we have. This season is going to be a fun year if we can come together and tighten things up."
 
After losing five of their top-six scorers from a year ago, the Beacons knew they would have to get contributions from a new source this season, and it didn't take long for the freshman class to establish itself as a force to be reckoned with. McAninch, Schlabach, and Kaden Sand combined for 51 points as they shot just under 60%.
 
Schlabach led with a team-high 25 points while McAninch scored 16. Sand scored ten as his brother Logan Sand posted 13. Junior Ernest Ugoagu opened up his season with a 17-point night, hitting three treys.
 
LC State (2-0) had six players in double-figures including all five starters. Hodges Bailey scored 17 first-half points and finished with a game-best 26 and Trystan Bradley secured a double-double with 19 points and ten boards. Damek Mitchell also earned a double-double with ten points and ten assists, adding six rebounds.
 
The Beacons will return to action on Saturday night, playing host to Portland Bible College at 7:00 pm.