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Al Kawashima

Men's Basketball

Eagles Fall to Warner Pacific

Ben Tucakovic scored a team high 21 points tonight.
Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The NU men ran into a hot shooting Warner Pacific team tonight as they dropped an 87-79 conference contest to the Knights in Portland tonight. Warner Pacific burned the nets for 53 percent shooting in the first half to take a 46-34 lead at halftime and the Knights shot 50 percent in the second despite the Eagles outscoring WPC 45-41 in the half.

It looked like it may be the Eagles' night as they jumped out to an early 11-3 lead in the first half with 3-point shots by Dak Shagren, Ben Tucakovic and Tomas Ogbaslassie. But Warner Pac would heat up and go on a 12-2 run to take a 15-13 lead at the 14:38 mark. NU's Mark Lieberman would cut the WPC lead to one, 20-19 with 11 minutes to go in the half, but the Knights would slowly build their lead to 38-28 after Franky Johnson would hit 3 of his game high 33 with 4 minutes left in the half. A Johnson jumper and driving lay-up by Taylor Young at the buzzer would give WPC a 46-34 halftime lead.

Warner Pacific would start the second half outscoring the Eagles 5-2 to make it a 51-36 score as Northwest U would get no closer than 6 the remainder of the half as the Knights would post their second straight CCC victory.

Ben Tucakovic broke out of his scoring slump with an impressive 21 point game for Northwest U (4-6, 0-2 CCC) while pulling down with 9 rebounds. He hit 45 percent of his shots (9-20). Michael Dupree added 18 points and 9 rebounds and Dak Shagren scored 15 points for the Eagles. Tomas Ogbaslassie had a team high 6 assists. NU shot 42 percent for the game, 51 percent in the second half and was 44 percent from the 3-point line.

Warner Pacific (5-4, 2-0 CCC) was led by Franky Johnson's 33 points and 8 rebounds while teammate Taylor Young scored 19 points and added 8 rebounds. Charles Honest had 10 points and Earl Jones had a game high 11 assists for the Knights. WPC edged NU in rebounding with a 38 to the Eagles' 37.

"After a good start early in the first half, our cold shooting helped Warner Pacific build a lead with their hot hand," said NU head coach, John Van Dyke. "I was pleased with our effort in the second half as our guys kept battling and our shots began to fall. On the bright side, it was great to see Ben (Tucakovic) regain his confidence on offense, which will be a benefit to the team. We will continue to improve."

NU will play Multnomah in Portland tomorrow (Saturday) evening at 7:30 p.m. in more CCC play.
 
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Players Mentioned

Mark Lieberman

#12 Mark Lieberman

G
6' 0"
Junior
Tomas Ogbaslassie

#15 Tomas Ogbaslassie

W
6' 5"
Senior
Dak Shagren

#21 Dak Shagren

G
6' 3"
Junior
Michael Dupree

#11 Michael Dupree

G
6' 1"
Junior
Ben Tucakovic

#20 Ben Tucakovic

P
6' 7"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Mark Lieberman

#12 Mark Lieberman

6' 0"
Junior
G
Tomas Ogbaslassie

#15 Tomas Ogbaslassie

6' 5"
Senior
W
Dak Shagren

#21 Dak Shagren

6' 3"
Junior
G
Michael Dupree

#11 Michael Dupree

6' 1"
Junior
G
Ben Tucakovic

#20 Ben Tucakovic

6' 7"
Junior
P