PORTLAND, Ore. – After a closely contested first-half, Bushnell cruised over the final 20 minutes to claim an 85-68 victory against Warner Pacific University on Friday night in their Cascade Collegiate Conference opener.  
 
The Beacons (4-3, 1-0 CCC) led by as many as 20 points on Friday, and matched their largest-ever victory over the Knights (2-5, 0-2). Both teams shot exactly 43.5% from the field, but the Beacons were 17-for-21 at the free-throw line which helped to keep Warner Pacific at bay down the stretch. Bushnell held a 43-36 advantage in rebounds including 14 on the offensive glass that led to a 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
 
Bushnell found themselves struggling to make baskets in the first half, and were trailing by ten points, 23-13 with just under nine minutes remaining in the opening period. The visitors, however, were able to connect on their next four possessions, highlighted by three-pointers from Luke Smith and Kaden Sand as they rallied back to tie the game within two minutes.
 
Back-to-back layups from Tony Frohlich-Fair and Trevon Richmond over the final 11 seconds gave Bushnell the lead for good as they carried a 37-34 advantage into the intermission.
 
Cory Johnson opened the second half on fire, scoring Bushnell's first eight points, as the built a nine-point advantage. WPU found their way back to within three points and were down 61-56 with ten minutes to play before the Beacons went on a 24-12 run to close out the game.
 
Johnson finished with a game-high 18 points off the bench, hitting three three-pointers. Head Coach Eddie Alexander said, "Cory slid into a starting spot at halftime and come out huge for us. He was lightning in a bottle and sparked us when we needed it. His work ethic is amazing and I am proud of his success."
 
Johnson said, "My mindset going into the second half was just staying aggressive and shooting anytime I was remotely open. Defensively I knew the first couple minutes were really important to open up the second half and I knew I could help with my rebounding and by playing good defense."
 
Richmond added 17 points and Stevie Schlabach scored 13. Five players were in double-figures for the Beacons with Frohlich-Fair adding 12 and Sand scoring 11. Spencer Hoffman added eight points while leading the team with 12 rebounds and three assists.
 
Warner Pacific received 16 points apiece from Matt Solomon and Collin Oestereich while Caleb Tyree-Morgan scored ten points and seven rebounds.
 
Solomon was held well under his CCC-leading scoring average on Friday, due in large part to the defensive efforts of Richmond. "Trevon was big for us guarding their leading scorer," said Alexander, "and he made it as hard as he could on him. His engagement lit his offense tonight and he was a problem for them to guard."
 
"I texted Coach Jordan [Alexander] this week and simply told him 'I want to guard number one on Warner Pacific.' I wanted that challenge and I took the match-up personal. I love a challenge and I take pride in my defense. I got going on offense by reacting to what the defense was giving me and I was going at my own pace. This was a great team win tonight and I love my brothers."
 
The Beacons remain in Portland for Saturday's contest as they face off against Multnomah University (4-2, 1-1) at 5:00 pm.