Box Score



NAMPA, Idaho - The Crusader men tuned up for their biggest battle of the season in style Thursday night.

Wire-to-wire style, that is, as Northwest Nazarene never trailed in an 83-70 victory over visiting St. Martin's in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball action at the Johnson Sports Center.

A win that gives NNU (10-11, 8-3 GNAC) plenty of momentum in preparation to host 20^th-ranked and league-leading Western Oregon on Saturday night.

"Today's game is just as big as Saturday's game," NNU head men's basketball coach Dave Daniels said of Thursday victory. "Every game is a big game at this juncture of the season."
 

Knowing that, the Crusaders came out on fire against the Saints, knocking down their first six 3-pointers and forging a 26-9 lead on the final triple of that flurry by Pol Olivier with 6 ½ minutes gone.

The lead grew to as much as 39-20 on a Mike Wright layup, as NNU dominated the first half, shooting 7-of-13 from beyond the arc and committing just two turnovers en route to a 43-31 edge at the break.

"It was a great start," Daniels said. "I was really pleased with our execution. We've been battling the turnover bug most of the year and we didn't turn the ball over the first 17 or 18 minutes of the game and I think that really paid off."

From there, the Crusaders just needed to maintain their advantage, which they did with only a few tense moments.

The Saints (6-16, 3-9) charged all the way to within a single point down with 10 minutes to play following a 3-pointer by Isaac Bianchini before Bouna N'Diaye sandwiched 3s around a pair of Kevin Rima free throws, stretching the lead to 67-58, and NNNU never felt threatened again.

"I think we hit a little bit of a lull there in the center then came back and really executed on both ends again to finish, so glad to finish on a high note," Daniels said.
 

"The biggest thing is we're learning how to win," NNU's coach added. "The nice thing is we're learning how to win with wins, but we still need to learn how to finish and be consistent and not have lapses."

N'Diaye finished with 18 points in the victory, a dozen coming off the 3-ball as the Crusaders matched a season-high with 11 triples.

Alex Birketoft added 3 more 3s and finished with a career-high 18 points, as well, and Erik Kinney led all scorers with 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for NNU, which now focuses its attention on the GNAC-leading Wolves (19-3, 11-1), who held on for a 76-73 win at Central Washington on Thursday night.

"I think probably the reason we're most excited is we lost one down there that I think we should have had, and the guys think that too," Daniels said of a 66-59 setback on January 8 in Monmouth, Ore., a game NNU led late before the Wolves score the game's final seven points for the win.