KIRKLAND – Northwest resumes Cascade Collegiate Conference action this weekend with a trip to Portland for 7:30 p.m. contests at Warner Pacific on Friday and Multnomah on Saturday.
Live stats and the live stream of all of the NU basketball games this weekend are available at nueagles.live.
The Eagles are 11-5 overall and 6-1 in the league. WPU comes in at 8-9 overall and 4-5 in the CCC, while Multnomah is 9-8 on the season and 2-5 in league play.
Northwest turned in a gutsy performance in winning its third game of the week with only two reserves in its 72-68 win over Eastern Oregon, who came into the weekend averaging 101 points per game. Hussayn Ford scored 18 points to go with 14 rebounds. Christian Hakilimali and
Dejwan Walker had 12 points each, and
Tanner Davis and Ryan Ricks added 11 apiece.
Warner Pacific has won the last five games in the series and nine of the last 10. The Knights handed the Eagles an 88-75 setback last season in Portland. Ford had 34 points and Ricks 11 in the loss. Jalen Ballard had 21 for the Knights.
Warner Pacific has struggled since Christmas, losing all four games. WPU is sixth nationally with 11.5 three-pointers per game. Kadeem Strickland leads the Knights with 18 points per game. He is eighth nationally with 3.67 three-pointers per game.
The Eagles have won nine straight in the Multnomah series and dealt the Lions a 104-98 loss in Portland last season. Ford had 26 points, and Ricks added 18 for the Eagles. MU got 40 from Justin Martin.
Multnomah features the No. 3 scoring offense in NAIA II at 97.4 points per game. The team also leads the nation with 18.4 three-pointers per game and is fifth with 4.88 blocks per game. Martin, the reigning CCC Player of the Week, set the NAIA II single-scoring record with 72 points in his last outing. Martin leads the NAIA in scoring at 34.7 points per game and three-pointers per game with 5.2. He also is fourth with 6.6 assists per game.
Northwest is seventh nationally in field goal percentage at 50.2 percent. Hakilimali leads that effort at 55.6 percent (35
th nationally), and Ford is at 52.2 percent. The Eagles also are 16
th in three-point shooting at 39.1 percent. Walker is 25
th in the nation in that individual category at 47.5 percent. Ricks, who has a team-leading 42 three-pointers, is shooting 40.8 percent.
Four Eagles average in double-figure scoring. Ford leads at 16.3 points per game, followed by Hakilimali at 13.6, Ryan Ricks at 13.4, and Walker at 10.8. Northwest is 35
th in scoring offense at 84.1 points per game.
Ford, who is averaging a double-double, leads the Eagles with 11.94 rebounds per game. Ford is fourth in total rebounds per game and second nationally with 9.37 defensive rebounds per game. The Eagles rank 21
st in rebound margin (7.6) and 16
th in rebound defense (32.31). Ford has 14 double-doubles in 16 games this season and leads both divisions of the NAIA in that category.
Northwest is 3-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference road games this season. Ford averages 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in CCC road games, while Davis also steps up to 11 points per conference road game.
