Box Score

NAMPA, Idaho – The Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team battled back from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Saints of Saint Martin's University 65-61 in tonight's Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 
Saint Martin's went into halftime with a 35-22 lead. The Saints had 14 points in the paint and 10 points off of turnovers in the first half.
 
The Crusaders used a strong second half performance led by Kenny Jones' 14 points to overcome the Saints' first half lead. NNU outscored SMU 22 to 6 inside the paint and had 15 points off of turnovers to help pull away.
 
“I'm very proud of how our guys battled back today,” commented head coach Dave Daniels, “they never gave up, which has been a true characteristic of us all year.”
 
Jones finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the floor. Kevin Rima had 12 points and grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds. Senior Jonathan Hawkins had 9 points on and was 4 of 4 from the charity stripe. NNU outscored the Saints 43-26 in the second half.
 
“Kenny Jones was the difference tonight, he got us going tonight with a couple steals and great finishes. Kevin (Rima) and Michal (Kurimsky) were fantastic tonight and were a significant part of the team's win,” added Daniels.
 
Evan Coulter and Will Bond led the Saints with 14 points each. Roger O'Neill had 13 points for SMU.
 
The Crusaders improve to 12-13 overall and 6-11 in GNAC action. NNU was 25-44 (56.8-percent) from the floor and 12 of 16 (75.0-percent) from the free-throw line. The Saints fall to 9-16 overall and 5-12 in GNAC play. SMU was 23-49 (46.9-percent) from the floor and shot a perfect 10 of 10 (100.0-percent) from the charity stripe.
 
NNU will be back to home action on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for the season finale against Western Oregon University at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa, Idaho.