Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Kevin Rima scored a game-high 27 points for Northwest Nazarene, which gave host Western Washington a battle all night before falling 84-72 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball Thursday.

"Our guys competed throughout," NNU coach Dave Daniels said.

It was a second straight big game for Rima against the Vikings as the junior forward scored 34 points in the two teams' previous meeting in Nampa, Idaho on Jan. 25.

Down eight early, NNU (5-18 overall, 3-12 GNAC) battled its way into the lead, taking a 30-27 advantage on the scoreboard on a Mario Donaldson bucket with 7 minutes, 4 seconds left in the opening half, and trailed just 38-35 at halftime.

The Vikings (17-6, 11-4) tried to break the game open early in the second half, going up 57-45 on a Robert Harris 3-pointer, but a 3 by Crusader redshirt freshman Derek Isaak and a 3-point play by Rima kept NNU close.

Another WWU surge, capped up an Austin Bragg layup with 8:41 to play, stretched the lead to 71-58 before a 9-0 run by the Crusaders once again made things interesting.

Rima capped the charge with two free throws with 6:11 to play, making it 71-67, but that is where the Crusaders comeback efforts ran out of steam.

The Vikings pulled away with a five-point surge aided by the fact Rima got hurt fighting for an offensive rebound, and was lying on the floor as Harris converted a 3-point play on the other end for WWU.

"That was the key play," Daniels said.

A Richard Woodworth layup made it 76-67 with 4:18 to go, and the Vikings held on from there.

Turnovers and offensive rebounds also played key roles in the outcome as NNU coughed the ball up 16 times and was out-rebounded 16-4 on the offensive boards.

"We had several key unforced turnovers and didn't finish defensive possessions with securing the rebound," Daniels said.

Rima did added eight rebounds to his game-high 25 points, while Donaldson scored 16 points and Michael Loomis added 10 points for the Crusaders.

"Kevin was a beast and Mario really attacked the rim well," said Daniels, whose team is back in action Saturday at Simon Fraser before closing out the regular season at home, hosting Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific on Feb. 27 and March 1, respectively.