Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Road weary, the Crusaders got off to a tough start Monday night in Southern California and never completely recovered.
The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team went 0-for-5 and committed five turnovers over the opening five minutes, dropping into a 10-point hole on the road in a 70-57 nonconference lost at Cal State Los Angeles.
"Our slow start really hurt us tonight," said NNU head men's basketball coach
Scott Flemming, whose team traveled 830 miles by bus the last two days after a win Saturday afternoon at home against Dominican. "We competed well in the second half, but we can't put ourselves in that position."
The setback evens the two teams' head-to-head series this season at a game apiece, as NNU topped the Golden Eagles, 80-75, in Nampa, Idaho, last month.
The Crusaders (4-3 overall, 0-2 GNAC) trimmed the difference to 19-12 on a
Leeor Konenkov bucket midway through the first half, and trailed 50-41 with 6 ½ minutes to play after a
Bouna N'Diaye 3-pointer, but never got in front on the scoreboard.
N'Diaye had 22 points while Konenkov added nine points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders, who play at San Francisco State on Friday night before taking their Christmas break.
"We had some good play from some of our younger players, but the guys we usually count on struggled shooting the ball," Flemming added.
