KIRKLAND – Men's basketball season starts this weekend when the Eagles take on Canadian schools Camosun and Thompson Rivers in the Corban Classic in Salem.
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Northwest takes on Camosun Friday at 8 p.m. and Thompson Rivers Saturday at 1 p.m.
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The Eagles are 2-0 in season openers under coach
Jeff Drinkwine. Northwest has won its last five season openers and nine of its last 10. The hiccup came in 2013 at the hands of Thompson Rivers.
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Hussayn Ford returns for the Eagles after his honorable mention All-American performance last season. He averaged a double-double with 19.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He was 29
th in the nation in scoring and fifth in rebounding. Ford was third nationally with 23 double-doubles.Â
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While Hussayn has the spotlight to start the season, NU returns a pair of players who averaged nine or more points in their last seasons. Ryan Ricks averaged 9.6 points per season last year, and Christian Hakilimali is back after averaging 9.0 in 2017-18. Ricks also had 69 assists last season.Â
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The Eagles last season made the playoffs and knocked off sixth-ranked Oregon Tech in the first round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament. OIT would go on to the NAIA finals and came within seven points of a national title.
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Camosun, located in Victoria, B.C., went 8-10 last season and won the bronze medal in the Pacific West Provincial championships. Senior Dallas Hancox had 21 points to lead the Chargers in the Bronze Medal Game.
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Thompson Rivers enters the weekend with a pair of blowout exhibition wins over Macewan and Fraser Valley. Anton Bilous averaged 13.5 points last season, while Michael Rouault averaged 11 points and 7.3 rebounds.
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The Eagles and Thompson Rivers met last season in Kirkland, with Northwest getting the 97-89 win. Anton Bilous scored 17 points for the Wolfpack. Ford gave the Wolfpack a lot of trouble inside, scoring on 12 of 15 field goal attempts on his way to 27 points. Ricks had 18 points and five assists in the game.Â
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