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Athletics

Knights Hold on to Edge the Eagles in Semifinal

PORTLAND, Ore. – Trailing 61-58 with 11 seconds to go, Northwest’s Ryan McIntosh’s 3 point attempt fell just short as Warner Pacific would hold on for a 63-58 victory in the CCC semifinal tonight. Warner Pac advances to the championship game while Northwest U’s season ends with a 22-10 season mark.

The team exchanged baskets to start the game, but with the score tied at 6-6, the Eagles would go cold and Warner Pac would go on a 14-2 run to take a 20-8 lead 8 minutes gone in the period. But, back would come the Eagles as they would heat up on offense and go on a 13-0 run of their own which began with a Ryan McIntosh jumper and ended with Ryan Dornik hitting a 3 pointer making it 21-20 in favor of NU with 7:23 showing on the clock. In a see-saw battle, Warner Pacific would out score NU 7-2 to regain the lead, 27-23, after Doug Thomas would make one of two free throws for the Knights.  With the game tied at 32-all and 14 seconds on the clock Dornik would miss a 3 point attempt, but Cody Shackett would come up with the rebound and feed Michael Greene for the score with 1 tick left on the clock as NU would take a slim, 34-32 lead at the half.

The second half was close the entire way as the game saw 10 ties and 12 lead changes. A Nemanja Grujicic free throw with 13:39 on the clock would give NU a 45-42 lead. Following an NU turnover, Warner Pac would score four straight on Coleman Tarr’s layup and Marcus Moore’s 3 pointer to take a47-45 lead (12:22). Back would come the Eagles and Ryan Dornik’s trey with 8:56 left in the game would give the lead back to the Eagles, 51-49. After a WPC timeout, Ryan Parks would enter the game and proceed to hit two 3 pointers in a row to lift the Knights to a 57-51, a lead they would maintain the remainder of the game. Michael Greene’s offensive rebound and put back would tighten the score to 61-58 with 32 seconds left. Warner Pac would miss two straight shots setting up McIntosh’s 3 point attempt which would miss the mark as NU would be forced to foul . Coleman Tarr would hit two free throws to clinch the win for the Knights in the final seconds.

Michael Greene led the Eagles (22-10) with his 14th double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ryan McIntosh added 15 points while teammate Michael Russo contributed 11 points. NU shot 36% on the night and a cool 22% (8 for 37) from beyond the 3 point line.

Northwest will now wait the announcement from the NAIA regarding at-large bids to the NAIA Division II National Championships in Pt. Lookout, Missouri. Formal announcement of the tournament seeds and berths will be made on Wednesday. Should the Eagles earn a berth, it would mark the third consecutive year the team has made the trip to Missouri and its fourth in 7 seasons.

“Overall. I was pleased with our effort,” commented Eagle head coach, John Van Dyke. “I think when we look back over the season, we’ll see some solid wins and some tough losses, but our effort was consistent. I proud of this group who persevered this season through adversity and injury and still managed to finish with a 20 win season. We certainly hope our season isn’t done just yet.”

Congratulations and a very successful season!

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Posted on Saturday, February 23, 2013 Share on Facebook