PBC Wins Battle of 82nd Ave

Last night, Portland Bible College (16-8, 6-0) traveled down 82nd Ave to play their rival Multnomah University.  The game featured the only two undefeated teams in conference, with the winner taking sole possession of 1st place.  The 1,200 seat gym was near capacity as both schools came out in force to support their teams.

Multnomah started the game with a quick 8-5 lead, with many of their points coming off their full court press. In the 1st half, PBC had trouble taking care of the basketball, which led to 22 Multnomah points.  PBC took advantage of numerous 2 on 1 opportunities to keep things close.  Michael Cooper was the recipient of many of these possessions, as he threw down several acrobatic dunks.  Austin Hodges closed the 1st half out with a steal and was fouled going to the hoop, where he converted 1 of 2 free throws to put PBC ahead, 53-51.

Multnomah came out of the intermission red hot, and at the 12:25 mark, opened up the biggest lead of the game for any team, 67-61. The teams would continue to battle back and forth, with PBC tying the game at 73 with 10 minutes remaining.  From this point on, Portland Bible clamped down on defense and started to control the tempo.  PBC would hold Multnomah scoreless for 8 minutes and closed the game out with a 34-13 run to win 107-86.

Portland Bible shot 66% from the field (45-68) and 25% from the 3pt line (1-4), compared to Multnomah's 35% shooting (27-75) and 27% from the 3pt line (15-55).  Portland Bible outrebounded MU 57-20 but committed 29 TO's compared to only 11 for Multnomah.

Portland Bible had 6 players in double figures, led by Michael Coopers 31 pts/12 rebs/2 blocks.  Cooper shot an impressive 15-19 from the field, including a career high 9 dunks.  Stephen McCall, Maycol Rivera and Robert Cochran each chipped in 14pts each.  Multnomah was led by Nick Kamlade's 27 pts and Connor Hambleton's 21 pts.

"I was very proud of both teams and schools.  It was a great game atmosphere and I felt both teams represented their schools with class and integrity while competing at a high level.  I have much respect for Curt (Bickley) and his team.  I thought both teams played great and was proud of how our team played, especially in the last 10 minutes.  It took our guys a while to settle down and execute the entire game plan, but this game will really help us down the road" Coach Schweiss.

This Saturday night, PBC travels to Kirkland, WA to take on Northwest University.  Earlier in the season, Northwest defeated PBC 75-65.