Boxscore

NAMPA, Idaho - Jamie Eisinger's driving lay-in with 3.6 seconds to play in overtime broke an 86-86 tie and Western Washington's John Allen was unable to convert on a long three-point attempt at the buzzer as Northwest Nazarene University defeated the Vikings 88-86 on Saturday night in the 2011 Hall of Fame game at the Johnson Sports Center.

 

The league victory lifts the Crusaders to 8-8 overall and 3-5 in league play, while the Vikings fell to 10-6 overall and 5-3 in GNAC action.  The NNU athletic department welcomed the 13th class into it's Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony.  Joining the Hall of Fame tonight were Dorothy (Mittleider) Anderson, Matt Garringer, Ed Weidenbach, and LaMont Lee.  (Click here for Hall of Fame Article)

 

Redshirt-freshman Paul Egwuonwu led the Crusaders with 22 points and Brian Barkdoll added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds as NNU out-rebounded WWU, 35-18.  Also in double-figures for the Crusaders were Drew Eisinger with 17 and both Jamie Eisinger and Darious Walker with 12.

 

The Vikings were led by Michael Duty's game-high 29 points.  Duty constructed an impressive performance, scoring all nine overtime points for WWU, going 14-of-16 from the free throw line and three-of-four from the three-point line.  Duty led a group of five Vikings into double-figures as Zach Henifin added 17, both Chris Mitchell and Rory Blanche scored 14, and John Allen finished with 10.

 

The Crusaders held a 42-36 halftime lead, but the Vikings used an early second-half 11-2 run to lead 53-48 with 14 minutes to play.  WWU out-scored the Crusaders 22-11 to open the second half, but the Crusaders rallied in the final minutes.

 

WWU led by nine at 75-66 with under five minutes left and then led 79-75 in the final minute, but baskets by Egwuonwu and Drew Eisinger evened the score at 77-77.  Viking point guard John Allen had a fade-away jumper from 17-feet fall just short at the end of regulation, sending the game to an extra frame.

 

Duty opened the overtime with a pair of free throws for the Vikings, but the Crusaders answered with a Darious Walker jumper to tie and a Jamie Eisinger elbow jumper gave the Crusaders the lead at 81-79 with 3:07 to play.  The game would be tied three more times before Jamie Eisinger's winning drive found the net with 3.6 seconds remaining.

 

The Crusaders will travel to Alaska next week to face the Seawolves (Thursday, Jan. 27) and the Nanooks (Saturday, Jan. 29) in a pair of GNAC contests.