NAMPA, Idaho - The Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team battled back from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Central Washington University 93-82 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game on Saturday night at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.
Crusader point guard
Tyler Roberts led a group of six Crusaders that reached double-figures with 20 points and six rebounds. The win pushed the Crusaders to 9-2 overall and 1-1 in GNAC action.
"The kids really showed some heart tonight," commented NNU head coach Tim Hills. "Being down big in the first half and with them shooting it so well to start the game...I was pretty impressed with our players mental toughness to come back and get this one."
Central Washington (1-1 GNAC, 7-4) was led by Nate Jackson's game-high 24 point effort, 18 of which came in the opening half when the Wildcats shot 50-percent (15-30) from the floor and out-rebounded NNU by three (16-13). Matt Penoncello finished with 15 and both Bryce Daub and Tyler Monk had 10.
NNU's
Scott Helpenstell scored 15 and had seven rebounds, while both Justin Parnell and
Kendall Gielow scored 13.
Adam Shildmyer scored 12 and
Joel Ryman had 10 points and five assists. Shildmyer went 7-for-8 from the free throw line, with his miss being the first missed free throw of the season for the junior guard from Bremerton, Wash, who is now 24-for-25 on the year.
"Tyler played a tremendous game tonight for us and Adam hit a huge three-pointer and really rebounded well in the last five minutes," Hills added. "It was great to see the kids play with such passion."
Down 42-23 with 4:36 left to play in the first half after a Daub put-back for the Wildcats, the Crusaders would finish the half on a 9-1 run to trail 43-32 at the break. NNU would go on to outscore the Wildcats 61-39 in the second half, shooting 61.5-percent (16-26) from the floor and 85-percent (23-27) from the free throw line.
NNU would also pick up the pace on the glass, out-rebounding CWU 25-7 in the second half to win the rebounding battle 38-23.
The Crusaders will travel to Billings, Montana to face MSU Billings next Thursday in their first GNAC road game of the season, a 7:30 p.m. MST tip-off against the Yellowjackets, and then face Seattle University on Saturday in Seattle at 2:00 p.m. PST.
