KIRKLAND – Northwest used every ounce of strength to fend off a strong second-half push by Northwest Christian for a 75-69 win Friday.
 
The injury-plagued Eagles got rolling late in the first half, using a 16-5 run to grab a 39-26 lead with 2:41 left before intermission. Six Eagles scored in that spree. NU led by as many as 14 points in the first half and took a 43-31 advantage into the lockers.
 
Ryan Ricks capped an 11-2 run for the Eagles with a three-pointer in the second half to push the NU lead to 60-40 with 14:15 to play.
 
NCU got things going with a 20-3 run to cut the Northwest lead to 63-60. Stevie Schlabach had eight points and came up with a blocked shot and a steal during that run.
 
Tanner Davis, Hussayn Ford, and Ricks all scored in a 7-0 Northwest run to stoke the lead back out to 70-60 with 5:09 remaining. NCU was able to make it a one-possession game once more but could not keep getting the stops it needed to catch up.
 
"We weathered that storm," said NU Head Coach Jeff Drinkwine. "We kind of got away from our offense for a little bit, but we got back into a rhythm of running plays every time. I thought we did a good job, doing the things we need to do. We'll get some rest and try to do it again tomorrow."
 
The Eagles got double-doubles from Christian Hakilimali and Ford. Hakilimali had a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Ford added 11 points and 10 boards. Ricks added 14 points, Tanner Davis had 12, and Kelvin Omojola added 10.
 
Logan Sand led the Beacons with 15 points.
 
The Eagles return to Kristi Brodin Pavilion Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. contest with Corban.