KIRKLAND – Northwest won its Cascade Collegiate Conference opener, outlasting Lewis-Clark State 93-86 in a contest that featured hot-shooting guards.
 
Davin Brown and Silas Bennion combined for 51 points for the Warriors, but the Eagles counterattacked with 53 from CaCoa Chatman and Drew Bryson.
 
Chatman erupted for 30 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including four-of-five from three-point range. Bryson added 23, AJ Chappell scored 14, and Lewis Pope came up with 10 points. 
 
With most of the team's big men not suited up for the game, the Eagle guards responded.
 
"They didn't have much of a choice but to play well," said NU Head Coach Rick Skeen. "What a gutty win. I'm so proud of our guys. We talk a lot about 'no excuses.' You look down the bench and see all of those guys in street clothes, and it would be easy to make excuses. But they fought and fought and fought. We obviously struggled with some things in the paint, but we got stops when we needed them."
 
The first half saw a couple of lead changes before Chatman put the Eagles ahead to stay, 18-17, with 13:42 remaining in the half.
 
AJ Chappell hit two three-pointers in a 10-2 run to give NU a 45-36 lead with 2:54 left in the half. The Eagles led 47-38 at the half.
 
Bryson canned a three-pointer with 14:12 left in the game to give Northwest its biggest lead, 62-48.
 
LCSC was able to whittle the lead down to 82-77 with 1:33 to go, but the Eagles were relentless at the free-throw line, canning 15 of their final 16 attempts.
 
Pope led the Eagles with seven rebounds. 
 
Now 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, the Eagles host Walla Walla in a 9 p.m. contest on Saturday.