Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Crusaders survived in a thrilling outcome Thursday night in Alaska.

Well in control midway through the second half, the Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team saw their comfortable 15-point lead become a tense 1-point advantage in the fleeting seconds of a 75-73 road win at Alaska in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

"We built an important cushion early in the second half that really helped us secure the win," NNU head men's basketball coach Dave Daniels said.

Daniels' team won its fourth straight game – and sixth in its last seven outings - by taking control of the game in the opening half, led by Erik Kinney and Aubrey Ball.

A Ball bucket put NNU (8-10, 6-2 GNAC) on top 27-20, and two Kinney free-throws gave the Crusaders a 32-24 edge just before halftime.

The Crusaders stretched that lead to 40-30 on an Alex Birketoft 3-pointer with 2 ½ minutes gone in the final stanza, went up 45-30 on two Kinney free throws, and led 52-37 with 10 ½ minutes remaining on a Kinney lay-in following a Birketoft offensive board.

Then the game started getting tense.

Ashton Edwards scored 11 straight for the Nanooks (5-11, 2-6), his final bucket closing the gap to 57-53.

A free throw by Crusader senior Kevin Rima – a Fairbanks native playing his final game in his hometown – pushed NNU's edge back out to 62-53 before a final late charge by Alaska made for a thrilling finish.

Down 74-71, the Nanooks forced a turnover, and with 5 seconds left got two Kyle Tomlinson free throws to narrow the difference down to a single point, 74-73.

Fouled on the ensuing in-bound play, the Crusaders' Bouna N'Diaye converted 1-of-2 free throws with 4 seconds left, a bit of breathing room for NNU, which saw a long 3-point attempt by UAF missed the mark, preserving the win.

"Our defense and rebounding held strong and got us over the hump in the end," Daniels said, as the Crusaders outrebounded the Nanooks, 37-33, and outshot UAF 49.0 percent (25-of-51) to 41.0 percent (25-of-61).

Kinney and Ball led the way for NNU, each scoring 19 points in the victory, with Kinney chipping in eight rebounds, and Birketoft added a career-high 16 points and eight boards.

"They doubled Kevin in the post so other guys had to step up and make plays," Daniels said of Rima, who was named GNAC Player of the Week after scoring 47 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in two games last week. "Erik, Aubrey and Alex were definitely up for the task."

N'Diaye added 12 points and Rima finished with nine points and five rebounds for the Crusaders, who now go for a sweep in Alaska when they play at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. (MT).