NAMPA, Idaho – Able to rebound from a disappointing loss on Thursday night, the Northwest Nazarene men’s basketball team defeated Central Washington University 76-63 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game on Saturday night at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.

 

NNU (9-9, 3-6 GNAC) shot 60 percent (24-of-40) from the field and 44.4 percent from the three point line in the victory, bouncing back from the disappointing 77-73 loss on Thursday to Saint Martin’s College.

 

“Tonight we showed much more poise and maturity,” commented NNU head coach Mike Terpstra.  “In the second half we really did a better job against their press, and made some defensive stops.  We can control tempo if we can make a few stops, and tonight we did that.”

 

The Crusaders fell behind early and didn’t make a field goal the first six-and-one-half minutes of the game.  The Wildcats led 11-1 with 14:05 to play in the opening period before Ryan McCarthy hit a three pointer to break the basket open for NNU.  The bucket started a 10-0 Crusader run that tied the score at 11 when Daniel Nyom took a McCarthy pass down the lane for a dunk.  NNU would score the final five points of the half to take a 32-29 lead into the break.

 

The Wildcats opened the second half with impressive defensive pressure, leading by as many as five when Kyle Boast dropped a trey from the top-of-the-key to make it 39-34, but Nyom answered with another baseline bucket that started a 15-0 Crusader run that held the Wildcats scoreless for over five and one-half minutes and pushed the NNU advantage to 49-39 with 11:57 to play.

 

CWU would rally and cut the lead to just two at 59-57 when Derek Groth nailed two of his five free throws, but the Crusaders responded with nine straight points to pull the game out of reach.

 

Nyom led all scorers with 21 points and five rebounds, while Mesut Ademoglu scored 13 and Ryan McCarthy added 10.  Ademoglu also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

 

Groth paced the Wildcats with 18 points and Kyle Boast scored 16, sharing rebounding honors with Ademoglu with nine.  Teddy Craven was the only other Wildcat in double-digits with 10.

 

NNU was out rebounded by the Wildcats 33-31, just the fourth time this season the Crusaders were beaten on the glass.  However, the host team took advantage at the free throw line, making 24-of-35 (68.6 percent), while CWU was just nine-of-20 from the charity stripe.

 

The Crusaders travel to Fairbanks next week to face the University of Alaska-Fairbanks on Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. MST, 7:00 p.m. AST.  NNU basketball can be heard live on AM 950 KNJY and on the World Wide Web at www.nnusports.com