Boxscore

NAMPA, Idaho - The Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team could not overcome a 27.5-percent second-half shooting percentage as the 17th-ranked Falcons from Seattle Pacific University defeated the Crusaders 82-71 in the opening Great Northwest Athletic Conference game of the season for both schools at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.

 

The Crusaders (8-4, 0-1 GNAC) opened the game solid, shooting 46.7-percent in the first half to hold a 36-34 lead at the break, but made only 11 second half field goals in the league loss.

 

"We couldn't buy a bucket in the second half," commented NNU head coach Tim Hills.  "Very uncharacteristic of us, especially after we shot it so well last weekend on the road.  The big men were doing a good job of kicking the ball out to the shooters, but we just couldn't knock any down."

 

Seattle Pacific (10-2, 1-0 GNAC) was led by a game-high 21 points from Chris Banchero, while Rafael Moreira and Jeff Downs each added 15.

 

NNU was led by Brian Barkdoll with 19 points and a game-high nine rebounds, with Drew Eisinger scoring 12.

 

The Falcons offset the poor shooting by the Crusaders to light-up the second half, going 16-of-23 for 69.6-percent, paced by Moreira scoring 10 of his 15 points after the break on 5-of-7 shooting from the paint.

 

Rob Diederichs led the Falcons on the boards with seven rebounds, pushing SPU to a 45-37 edge on the glass.

 

The Crusaders will next host Central Washington University on Saturday afternoon in a GNAC counter.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.