Northwest University (NU) held off a comeback attempt by Lewis-Clark State to defeat the Warriors 81-77 in a non-league game Nov. 18. Dak Shagren and C.J. Carter combined for 46 points to help lift the Eagles to their eighth win of the season and improve to 8-2. Lewis-Clark State drops to 7-2 on the year.

“Lewis-Clark is a quality team with some talented athletes, so I was proud the way our guys withstood their push at the end of the game,” said John Van Dyke, NU head coach. “We took good care of the ball tonight with only 3 turnovers which is one of the things we needed to do against a team like LCSC.”

The first half saw both teams shooting a high percentage with Northwest knocking down 58 percent of their shots and LCSC hitting 54 percent as NU would take a 41-34 advantage at the half. Shagren and Nemanja Grujicic each had 10 points at the break to lead NU.

NU would lead by as many as 12 points in the second half aided by 6-for-9 shooting from beyond the three-point line and that would prove to be the difference in the game as LCSC would hit 4-of-13 for 30 percent missing key three-pointers down the stretch. Lewis-Clark State would cut the eagle lead to 79-77 in the final seconds, but C.J. Carter would hit two key free throws to seal the win as Nick Emerson’s three-pointer at the buzzer would fall short for the Warriors.

Shagren led the way for NU (8-2) with 26 points going 4-for-4 from the three-point line in the second half. Carter would add 20 points as he would hit 6-of-7 free throws, all in the second half. Thomas Jordan added 13 points and four assists with Nemanja Grujicic finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Nick Emerson led Lewis-Clark State with 15 points including 4-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc. Jamaal Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds and Rich Tesmer contributed 11 points for the Warriors from Lewiston, Idaho. LCSC held the advantage on rebounding with a 36-27 margin including 11 offensive rebounds.