KIRKLAND – Northwest heads into finals week with an A-plus weekend after knocking off top-ranked Oregon Tech Saturday, 80-68.
 
The big win came 24 hours after the unranked Eagles knocked off No. 17 Southern Oregon.
 
Ryan Ricks, who got the game-winning three-point play Friday, scored 28 Saturday.
 
"What a weekend," said NU Head Coach Jeff Drinkwine. "I think we executed better tonight than last night, and Oregon Tech was tough to the last minute in a physical 40 minutes of intense basketball. I looked up with 23 seconds left, and I think we were up 14. I told Zach (Smith, assistant coach) that the clock can't tick fast enough. Oregon Tech is a champion team. They're like the New England Patriots, and they are never out of it."
 
While OIT did not mount the big rally, it was the Eagles who maintained a firm hand on the lead.
 
Northwest trailed 8-7. The game was tied as late as the 14:01 mark of the first half, but the Eagles grabbed a 14-12 lead on a Dejwan Walker basket to take the lead for good at the 13:40 mark of the first half.
 
The Eagles led by as many as 12 points in the first half on back-to-back baskets by Ryan Ricks for a 37-25 lead with 2:42 left in the half. Northwest led 41-34 at the half.
 
Northwest led 54-44 with 12:38 to go, but OIT All-American Mitchell Fink scored eight points and had an assist to narrow the gap to 59-56.
 
"Mitchell Fink put the team on his back there for a while, and that's just something he can do," Drinkwine said. 
 
Ricks got an offensive rebound and fed Tanner Davis a basket for a 64-59 lead, and Ricks connected on consecutive three-pointers to deliver a 70-62 lead with 4:48 left. Another Ricks basket and then two free throws put the Eagles ahead 74-62 with 3:01 to go.
 
"Ryan just stepped up big, and he was feeling it tonight," Drinkwine said. "We had a lot of guys step up. DJ (Walker) played well. It was just a complete team effort. I felt like last night, we were pressing a little because we hadn't won in a while. Tonight, we were back to sharing the ball and executing."
 
Christian Hakilimali fouled out with 16 points, Hussayn Ford had 15 points and a dozen rebounds, and Walker added 12 points and four assists.
 
Fink scored 21 for the Owls, while Seth Erickson had 14 points and nine rebounds. 
 
NU, now 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, takes finals week off and returns to action Dec. 20 at Corban.
 
The Owls, now 10-1 overall and 1-1 in the CCC, host College of Idaho Dec. 20.