EUGENE, Ore. – Battling through more swings than a preschool playground, No. 10 Oregon Tech and No. 25 Northwest Christian put together another classic clash on Friday night as OIT pulled out a 94-93 victory.
 
The early advantage went to the Owls who build a 21-10 lead over the opening eight minutes only to see the Beacons storm back and take their own lead, 26-25 on a Riley Anderson three pointer just four minutes later. NCU continued to pile on points, leading by as many as 14 points before taking a 56-44 lead into the intermission.
 
Oregon Tech set the tone for what would become an intense final 20 minutes, opening the second frame on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to four, 56-52. They soon got it to within three points but an Ernest Ugoagu three-point play, followed by a pair of Austin Tyner field goals pushed NCU onto a 12-2 run that grew their advantage to 13 points with 15 minutes remaining.
 
Once again the Owls mounted a comeback, using a 15-3 run to regain the lead, 74-73 with ten minutes to play. And once again, the Beacons had the answer, scoring ten straight points over the next two minutes to take a nine-point lead.
 
Holding a 90-83 lead with 3:45 to play, the Beacons began to tighten up and their shots stopped falling as OIT mounted yet another rally, scoring eight straight points to grab a 91-90 lead with just over two minutes to play.
 
The Beacons tied things up as Davonte Cleveland hit a free throw with 43 seconds remaining. Mitch Fink promptly answered, driving in for a layup and the lead with 37 seconds to play. NCU went fruitless on their ensuing possession and with 21 seconds to play and down two, were forced to foul.
 
Tyler Heib went to the line trying to give the Owls some distance but missed both free-throws to give NCU another chance. The Beacons capitalized on that opportunity, tying the game 93-93 with just nine seconds to play on a Davonte Cleveland layup, setting up one more series for Oregon Tech.
 
The Owls trotted down the court and in the waning seconds, Fink threw up a desperation jumper that fell well short. Just as it appeared the game would go into overtime, Heib found the ball under the hoop and threw the ball towards the net with a second desperation heave. With just 1.2 seconds remaining, a foul was called, giving Heib the opportunity to go to the line and help Oregon Tech escape with the win. After hitting the first free-throw to take the 94-93 lead, The owls intentionally missed the second.
 
An immediate time out by NCU gave them 0.9 seconds to attempt their own desperation in-bound play. That pass was intercepted to end the contest.
 
The Owls (23-5, 13-2 CCC) were led by Fink, finishing with 21 points and six assists after scoring just six in the first half. Matt Van Tassell scored 20 on 9-for-12 shooting while Seth Erickson contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Garret Albrecht added 12 points. OIT shot 52% from the field but were just 16-for-34 from the free-throw line which gave the Beacons every opportunity to stay in control. Tech also out-rebounded the Beacons 46-36 with 17 offensive boards.
 
NCU (18-8, 10-6) had a game-high 22 points from Ugoagu, shooting 60% from the field and 8-for-10 at the charity stripe. Davonte Cleveland played 33 minutes off the bench and took full advantage, scoring 19 points with five assists and two steals. Holsey contributed a double-double (12 points, ten boards) and Tyner finished with 11 points and three steals.
 
Tyner's scoring line puts him at 983 points in his career, moving him up to No. 12 on the Beacon all-time scoring list and placing him on the precipice of becoming just the tenth player on record to score 1000 in his career.
 
NCU's loss, coupled with a Corban victory over Southern Oregon move both of the Willamette Valley rivals into a third-place tie in the CCC with Eastern Oregon looming just a half game behind. The Beacons will face Southern Oregon on Saturday while Corban hosts Oregon Tech. Both games are slated for a 7:30 pm tip-off.