IRVINE – Northwood scored 50 fewer points Friday night than it did in its previous Pacific Coast League game.
But the Timberwolves still had enough to defeat Woodbridge, 40-34, in a PCL game at Woodbridge. Northwood defeated University, 90-51, Tuesday night.
Friday night, the Timberwolves (14-6, 3-0) relied on tough defense.
“Neither team shot the ball well,” said Northwood coach Tim O’Brien. “But that’s defense; that’s all we work on. We made it real interesting and so did Woodbridge.”
Northwood had more offensive firepower, led by Akshay Harishankar, who scored a game-high 16 points. Jacob Huynh had 14 points, including 10 in the final quarter to help the Timberwolves hold on.
Brandon Johnson (12 rebounds), Devin Owens (8 rebounds) and John Carrig (7 rebounds) were also solid on the boards for Northwood.
Seth Locke led Woodbridge (11-8, 1-1) with 10 points. Mark Tenney had seven rebounds and Daniel Thatcher six rebounds for the Warriors.
Northwood held a 30-21 lead after three quarters, but Woodbridge battled back with a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter. Locke’s layup with 3:30 left put the Warriors ahead, 31-30.
Huynh sank two consecutive baskets, putting Northwood ahead, 34-31, with 2:31 remaining.
Huynh then hit six free throws in the final 1:25 to seal the win. In the first half, Harishankar helped Northwood jump out to a 24-10 halftime lead with four 3-pointers.
“We came out strong in the first half, but then in the second half, Woodbridge came out strong and outscored us a lot and had momentum going in the second half,” Harishankar said.
Woodbridge coach John Halagan praised the comeback of his team, which was outscored, 11-2, in the second quarter.
“For us to come back after having a 10-point first half and take a lead with some young kids running around out there says a lot about our guys,” Halagan said. “We’re a work in progress.”
Contact the writer: tburt@scng.com
