CALDWELL, Idaho - Kendall Gielow scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team to an 88-77 victory over Westmont College in the opening game of the 2007 Wendy's Classic, hosted by The College of Idaho on Friday night at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center in Caldwell.
Gielow led a group of five Crusaders into double-digits as Joel Ryman came off the bench to score 15, Scott Helpenstell and Tyler Roberts each netted 13 and Justin Parnell had 10. Helpenstell added a game-high eight rebounds and Gielow grabbed seven as the Crusaders out-rebounded Westmont 31-27, including 14 offensive boards.
With the victory the Crusaders move to 6-0 on the season, matching their best start since the 2003-04 season, when NNU also opened with six straight wins.
"Joel did what Joel does, he shoots it with great confidence and has really lifted us a couple times this year," commented NNU head coach Tim Hills on Joel Ryman's three-point display to trigger Crusader runs in both the first and second periods.
Westmont College, an NAIA Division I institution and a member of the Golden State Athletic Conference, falls to 3-3 overall. The Warriors were led by Tyler Dutton who scored 15 points, including a 3-for-4 effort from the three-point line, with Dan Rasp scoring 13 and Blake Bender adding 10.
NNU opened the game shooting a scorching 57-percent (12-21) from the floor in the first half and ended the contest at 49-percent (27-55) from the field. The Crusaders were again solid from the charity stripe, making 25-of-33 to outscore the Warriors by 11 from the free throw line. Westmont finished 14-of-20 from the line and committed 18 turnovers to the Crusaders 15.
The Crusaders finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the second straight game, with 17 assists to the 15 miscues.
NNU will face the University of Montana-Western on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the third game of the 2007 Wendy's Classic.
The Wendy's Classic is being held to benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, with all proceeds from Friday's game being donated to Wendy's Wonderful Kids-Idaho.
