EUGENE, Ore. – Ayden Krupke posted a double-double and Bushnell held off a late charge, winning their Cascade Collegiate Conference opener over the Multnomah Campus of Jessup University on Friday, 66-65.
 
Head Coach Chad Meadors said, "I don't know how, but we held on. Rebounding and free throws are going to win you games and we did both of those things well tonight and I'm proud of this team. Multnomah is a tough team to guard. We battled and we had to get outside of our normal defense just to get stops, but when the game was on the line we got those stops. Now if we can knock down a few more threes, shoot a better percentage from the floor on makeable shots, we will continue to come out on top."
 
The Beacons (2-4, 1-1 CCC) never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 15 points early in the second quarter, but the scrappy Lions slowly inched their way back into the contest. At one point in the second half MCJU hit seven shots in a seven possession stretch and eventually tied the game at 62-62 with just over a minute to play. "We were reeling a little bit," said Meadors, "but we settled down and we continued to find ways to put the ball in the basket and that was the key."
 
The final minute, however, belonged the home team as Bushnell. Libby Mathis broke the tie with a layup, and the Beacons made a critical stop with Mandy Sisul collecting a steal off a back-door cut on the next Lion possession. Another Multnomah turnover and foul in the final ten seconds put Krupke at the line to ice the game with two free-throws and a four-point lead with under two seconds to play.
 
Size and strength played a big part in the win for the Beacons, who earned a 38-16 advantage on points in the paint and used 13 offensive rebounds to score nine important second-chance points. Depth was also key as the Beacons held a 20-9 margin in points off the bench. Bushnell shot 39% in the game and forced the Lions into 23 turnovers.
 
Krupke led the way for the Beacons, scoring game-highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Mathis finished with 15 on 6-for-10 shooting while Ellis Mastel came off the bench to score 13.
 
Friday was a special night as well for Liv Tjoelker (pictured, right), returning to action for the first time in 379 days. The senior guard played 19 minutes and made the most of them, collecting four rebounds, two steals, a block and tying for the game-high with five assists.
 
For Multnomah (3-5, 1-1) Ellie Robertson and Jersey Huerta each scored 16 points while Makayla Torkornoo added 15 points, hitting four three-pointers. Reya Lee posted all nine of the reserve points, hitting three second-half treys as the Lions mounted their comeback effort.
 
The Beacons will be back in action on Saturday, playing host to Warner Pacific, while Multnomah hits the road for Salem to take on Corban University. Both games are slated to tip-off at 3:00 pm.