Boxscore
BELLINGHAM, Wash. --- Drew Eisinger scored on a breakaway lay-in with 5.5 seconds left, lifting Northwest Nazarene University to a 77-75 victory over Western Washington University in an opening-round Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament game Monday at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the Western Washington University campus.
Eisinger's basket was the only lead of the second half for the Crusaders and Western's Chris Mitchell then missed a 3-pointer from the right wing at the buzzer.
The Crusaders, the No.5 seed, improved to 15-11 with its seventh straight victory. Second-team all-GNAC center Brian Barkdoll had a game-high 23 points on 11-of-13 field-goal shooting for NNU, scoring eight of the Crusaders last 15 points.
NNU will now travel to top-seeded Central Washington for a semi-final GNAC tournament game on Wednesday night. The Wildcats defeated 8th-seeded MSU-Billings 79-59 tonight in Ellensburg. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. MT and may be heard live on AM 950 in the Treasure Valley.
“Our team is playing so hard right now and really showing a will to win,” commented NNU head coach Tim Hills. “Western is such a good team and I know it's been tough for Coach Jackson having to play without players due to injury throughout the season, so props to them for battling through.”
Forward Michael Duty had 21 points for the Vikings, who finished the season 16-11, losing their last four games. Western was the No.4 seed in the GNAC tourney after posting an 11-7 record in conference play.
Western led by nine, 71-62, with five minutes left, but NNU went on an 11-2 run to tie the score on two free throws by Anthony Golden with 49 seconds left.
Duty put Western back in front with two free throws, but Barkdoll tied the score on a post-up with 17 seconds left. The Vikings then looked for a final shot, but NNU's Lateef Williams smothered a pass, collected the loose ball and threw a long lead pass to Eisinger for the go-ahead points.
“We decided not to let them run the clock and take the last shot,” Hills added. “During the timeout we called the trap, looking for it after they crossed half court, and then Lateef just made another great defensive play for us.”
The Crusaders shot 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field, including a stunning 79.2 percent (19-of-24) in the second half. Walker had 17 points for NNU and Golden added 12. Eisinger scored nine points and handed out a game-high nine assists.
Western also shot well, hitting 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field, including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) on 3-pointers, but were just 2-of-7 from the floor with four turnovers in the last six minutes. Forward Rory Blanche had 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Vikings, and guard John Allen had 13 points despite being hampered by a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the final regular-season game. The Vikings were also without the services of Zach Henifin, who started 25 of 26 games for the Vikings, but was unable to play due to injury.
Western dropped all three meetings against the Crusaders this season. Monday's loss was sadly familiar for the Vikings, as they let a nine-point lead get away with four minutes left in regulation at Nampa, Id., on Jan. 22 in an 88-86 overtime loss.
NNU held a 15-13 lead with 13 minutes left in the first half, but the Vikings went on an 16-5 charge and took a 31-20 advantage on a 3-pointer by Shedrick Nelson with 4:28 remaining in the period. Western led 35-29 at halftime.
