COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Friday night, Beechcroft hosted the Northland Vikings in a highly anticipated rematch of a mid-December game. Winners of eight in a row, the Vikings continued their hot streak, defeating the Cougars 82-64.. The Vikings were led by smooth scoring from junior Jejuan Weatherspoon, who had a game-high 22 points and four rebounds, and a dominant paint performance from senior Quentin Jones who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The tone was set very early in the game for Northland, as the first offensive possession was a drive and score from sophomore guard William Mfum. Northland was able to continue the momentum offensively with paint scoring and offensive rebounding. The best of the inside scoring was a monstrous poster slam from Mfum.

The run to start the game would stretch to 15-0 at one point, as Northland’s offense early was met with stifling defense on the other end of the floor. Beechcroft junior Jelani Simmons was able to break the seal for the Cougars with just under three minutes left in the first quarter, and he was able to pour in seven points to keep Beechcroft afloat. Simmons finished the night tied for a team-high with 17 points.

The Cougars showed great effort in the second quarter refusing to give up, using good aggressive defense and team scoring to get back into the game. That defense would help the Cougars to get as close a four points with a minute left in first half. But as was the case the entire every time the Cougars swung. the Vikings hit back harder, finishing with a 6-0 run in the last minute to capture a 32-22 halftime lead .

The second half started with the Vikings establishing the post, along with turning the defensive intensity back up and never looking back. Junior Beechcroft guard Datrey Long had a great second half trying (to keep his team competitive but the Vikings were just too much with last two quarters being nothing more than a formality as the Northland lead grew to 25 points at one time. Long was the other Cougar who finished with 17 points as well.

Northland displayed exactly why they're a top Division I team in Central Ohio, and the red-hot Vikings have some winnable games before they head to ODU for a mega-showdown against Central Ohio’s number one team, Pickerington Central.