Box Score

NAMPA, Idaho – The Crusaders weren't playing spoiler, they were playing for pride.

Driven to finish strong, the Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team played cooler Thursday night, stalling Montana State Billings drive toward Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament with a 66-60 win at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus.

"Great team victory," NNU coach Dave Daniels said. "The guys were playing for our seniors and for pride."

The Yellowjackets were playing for the sixth and final playoff spot, and playing like a tournament title contender, too, as they came into the game on a four-game win streak that included wins over Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, the league's top two teams.

MSU Billings tried to continue that trend, forging a 26-19 lead with 14 minutes, 14 seconds gone in the game on a Jonathan Mesghna bucket, and pushing out to a 34-24 lead on another Mesghna hoop 1:26 into the second half.

But the Crusaders (7-18 overall, 5-12 GNAC) wanted this win and fought back, closing to 36-35 down on a Mario Donaldson 3-pointer with 14:20 remaining, and taking the lead for good, up 43-42, on a Pol Olivier bucket with 10:40 to go.

Just part of a 26-8 run capped by a Donaldson bucket with 8:51 on the scoreboard clock that gave NNU a 50-42 advantage.

"Mario was outstanding, he hit big shot after big shot," Daniels said of the 6-foot-3 senior guard from Rockton, Ill., who scored a career high 28 points and knocked down 6-of-6 3-pointers in the win.

Of course, the hottest team in the GNAC didn't go quietly.

The Yellowjackets (12-13, 8-9) whittled away, closing the gap to 52-50 on a Kalob Hatcher 3-pointer with 5:01 to play, and to 55-54 on two Mesghna free throws with 2:56 remaining, but the Crusaders wanted this win.

Grayson Moore buried a 3-pointer, thwarting the 'Jackets comeback, and the Crusaders hit 4-of-4 free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

"I felt like we really won it on the defensive end and with rebounding," said Daniels, whose team held MSUB to 20-of-57 shooting (35.1 percent) and outrebounded the 'Jackets, 39-38.

"That's a huge win," NNU's coach added, "they were motivated, they were still fighting.  And to sweep that team (NNU beat MSUB in December, 63-61, in Montana) is a major accomplishment."

Achieved by a strong team effort as Kevin Rima added 13 points and Moore had eight points and 11 rebounds for the Crusaders.

"Grayson was huge on the boards," Daniels said. "He got four or five rebounds completely out of his area."

The Crusaders now look to send off seniors Donaldson and Shayne Perryman in style with one more win when they host No. 20 Seattle Pacific at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night in their season finale.