Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Friday night in Frisco turned out to be a disappointment for the Crusaders.

Off to a slow start, the Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team never found a rhythm in an 81-50 loss to host San Francisco State in a nonconference game that closed out the Crusaders' pre-Christmas schedule.

"I was disappointed with our overall effort and execution," NNU head men's basketball coach Scott Flemming said. "There may be several reasons, but we just didn't get it done." 

NNU (4-4 overall, 0-2 GNAC) now heads back to Nampa, Idaho, and gets nearly two weeks off before returning to action on New Year's Eve when the Crusaders host Concordia at 7:30 p.m. at the Johnson Sports Center as part of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader.

"We'll get things turned around and get back to playing solid basketball," Flemming said, looking ahead to the Crusaders upcoming slate.

The NNU ladies tip-off the New Year's Eve twinbill hosting St. Martin's at 5:15 p.m.

Friday night in San Francisco, the Crusaders slipped behind 13-0 in the opening six minutes of their pre-Christmas finale, but did their best to battle back into the contest.

A Detwon Rogers tip-in with 11 minutes left until halftime trimmed the difference to 15-7, and a Bouna N'Diaye 3-pointer made it a 20-10 score three minutes later.

But the Gators (6-3) slowly pulled away as the Crusader offense never found its rhythm as NNU shot 7-of-23 from the field in the first half, and 15-of-43 on the night.

That allowed SFSU to stretch the lead to 38-16 at the break, a difference that proved insurmountable as NNU went 8-for-20 shooting over the final 20 minutes.

Joel Devastey led the Crusaders with 11 points, while N'Diaye added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists for NNU.