EUGENE, Ore. – Box Score | On Saturday night at Morse Event Center Justin Martin did the unthinkable, and he did it when the Lions needed him most. Martin carried the Lions to a 118-111 OT win against the Northwest Christian University Beacons by shooting 15-22 from three, and scoring 21 of his NAIA Division ll record-setting 74 points in the overtime period.

NCU had outplayed the Lions with a 54-50 lead at the end of the first half, yet Martin was just getting things started on the offensive end. The Beacons found themselves up 75-83 with only 4:43 left in the game, and from there Martin, having already scored 40 points thus far, put the Lions on his back and knocked down 4 three’s and two free throws to keep the Lions within reach of regaining the lead.

Northwest Christian’s Ernest Ugoagu scored four points of his own to make it a six-point game but with 32 seconds remaining, Forrest Smith hit his only trey of the night. Ugoagu made one-of-two free-throws on the other end and on the ensuing play was called for a foul on Zach Richardson’s three-point try.

Zach Richardson made all three free-throws, but NCU’s Dyshawn Hobson hit both of his own on the next possession and the Beacons led 96-93 with nine seconds to play. To the surprise of no one, the ball went back into Martin’s hands for the final possession. His attempted was blocked clean by Logan Sand, but the ball ricocheted straight into the hands of Jaeden Ingram in the corner. Ingram promptly hit a three to tie the game and send it to overtime with the score 96-96.

At this point, Martin had scored 53 points but he was far from finished. During the extra frame, he went 3-for-4 from beyond the arch and 10-for-11 at the free-throw line, scoring 21 of the Lions 22 points as they pulled out the win.

Martin’s 74 points proved that his 71 point performance against Warner Pacific last year was no fluke, and again opened up the eyes of basketball fans everywhere by breaking the NAIA Division ll national scoring record.

Martin and Ingram combined for 97 of Multnomah’s 118 points and Jaeden Ingram finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while senior Stepan Zavydovskyy collected 9 boards while swatting away 6 shots.

NCU had five players in double figures, led by Ernest Ugoagu with 33 points, Logan sand with 18 points, Logan Davis with 17 points, Shawn Carson wtih14 points, and Dyshawn Hobson with 10.

This weekend, the Lions (9-8, 2-5 CCC) get back-to-back wins against Corban and NCU for the first time in school history.

Head coach Curt Bickey was blown away by Martin’s unbelievable night:

“I really have no words for how special Justin is. A lot of players talk about spending 6 hours a day in the gym, but I witnessed it this summer and now he is seeing the results of that effort” stated head coach Curt Bickley on Martin after the game, “and Jaeden’s shot to tie the game was insane. A freshman in the toughest conference playing back-to-back road games and putting up 23 and 13…that is something. Good for him. Forrest and Zach were clutch in the last minute with their shots as well, and Steph was the defensive key that gave Justin the opportunity to shoot us back into it. I told Justin when we were down 13 late that the only chance we had was for him to shoot us back into it from the three. No two’s allowed, only threes. After that timeout he went out and hit four in a row, and I stood there asking myself “Who does that?!” NCU is so good offensively that we knew we were going to have to score with them to have any chance, it was a tremendous game and it was fun to watch. MU has never won back-to-back games against Corban and NCU, but when your point guard scores 124 points in 24 hours, you have a chance. Both games were so close…what a great weekend for our program.”