CALDWELL, Idaho – Joel Ryman stormed off the bench to score a game-high 21 points and lead the Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team to an 80-70 victory over the University of Montana-Western on Saturday at the Wendy's Classic, hosted by The College of Idaho in Caldwell.

Ryman, who played 21 minutes, was three-of-six from the three-point line and a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line in leading the Crusaders to their first 7-0 start since NNU transitioned into NCAA Division II.

“Again tonight…we called Joel's number and he answered,” commented NNU head coach Tim Hills.  “I'm losing track of how many times I've drawn up a play for Joel in a timeout and we have come out, run the play and he knocks down the shot.  He's really playing confident basketball.”

Ryman led a quartet of Crusaders into double-figures, with Kendall Gielow scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds, sharing game-high rebounding honors with Scott Helpenstell, who also scored 12 points.  Tyler Roberts reached twin digits with 13 points and four assists.

With Montana-Western (5-8) winning the rebounding battle 28-26, the Crusaders made up the difference at the foul line, making 15-of-19 (78-percent), while the Bulldogs were just nine-of-14 (64-percent).  

The Crusaders shot 49-percent (28-57) from the floor and were nine-of-23 from the three-point arc, while the Bulldogs shot 56-percent (26-46), including an impressive 65-percent (13-20) in the second half, and were nine-of-18 from the three-point line.

NNU overcame a slow start, opening the game just 13-of-33, but held a 36-33 lead at the half behind Gielow's 12 points and five rebounds in the first period and the defensive effort that forced 11 Bulldog turnovers.  The Crusaders committed just 12 turnovers in the game and finished with 14 assists to mark the third straight game with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.

NNU will play one game next weekend, hosting Eastern Oregon University on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.

The Wendy's Classic was held to benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, with all proceeds from Friday's games being donated to Wendy's Wonderful Kids-Idaho.