Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. — The Wolves spoiled an otherwise good night for Northwest Nazarene on Thursday.

Andy Avgi's tip-in in the final 30 seconds provided league-leading Western Oregon a bit of breathing room late as the host Wolves rallied in the final five minutes to fend off the Crusaders, 66-59, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball.

"I was really pleased with the way the guys battled tonight, we just didn't make the plays we needed to down the stretch," NNU head men's basketball coach Dave Daniels said.

Avgi tipped in a miss by Jordan Wiley, giving the Wolves a commanding 64-59 lead in the fleeting seconds, part of a 12-2 run to finish the night by the host school.

That spoiled a great effort by the Crusaders (4-10 overall, 2-2 GNAC), who led 57-54 following a dunk by Erik Kinney with 5 minutes remaining.

But NNU simply couldn't finish off the Wolves, taking a 59-58 lead on a Kinney free throw before finishing the game 0-for-3 with a turnover.

Western Oregon (12-3, 4-1), conversely, was able to come up with those decisive plays late, scoring five second-chance points, including Avgi's back-breaking tip-in.  

The late charge gave WOU its biggest edge of the night, as the Crusaders held the lead most of the way, going up 23-19 on a Kinney jam with 5 ½ minutes left in the opening half, and an Alex Birketoft 3-point play gave NNU a 34-31 edge at halftime.

The lead grew to 40-35 on a Kevin Rima dunk 3 minutes into the second half before the teams settled into a see-saw final 10 minutes that saw three lead changes and one tie.

Kinney led the way for the Crusaders with 21 points and seven rebounds in the setback, while Matyas Hering added four 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 14 points for NNU.

"Erik continues to be very effective on both ends of the floor, and Matyas hit some really big shots tonight," Daniels said.

"And Alex (Birketoft) continues to find his rhythm on the offensive end and rebounded very well again tonight," NNU's coach added of the Crusaders' 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman, Birketoft, who had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Crusader point guard Mike Wright added two points and seven assists for NNU, which next plays at St. Martin's on Saturday.