Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. — Talk about an unbelievable turnaround.

Appearing to be down and out early in the second half, instead the Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team wiped clean host Western Oregon's advantage for unbelievable 64-59 comeback win in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on New Year's Eve.

Believe it!

"Obviously we have to come more ready to play, especially on the road," NNU head coach Scott Flemming said, adding of a comeback that saw the Crusader wipe out a 43-20 deficit, "we had a great defensive second half.

"That, along with clutch rebounding by Maurice (Jones) and a special offensive half by Bouna (N'Diaye), as he carried us for a while (led to the win)," Flemming said.

"Great way to end the year." 

NNU (5-5 overall, 2-2 GNAC) managed just an N'Diaye 3-pointer over the opening 11 minutes of the contest and trailed 18-3, a lead that the Wolves (5-7, 2-2) stretched to 40-20 at the halftime break.

Bryan Berg pushed the host's advantage to 43-20 with 20 seconds gone in the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Crusaders never gave up.

The NNU defense clamped down, holding the Wolves to 5-of-31 shooting (16.1 percent), and the Crusaders won the battle on the boards, 25-17 in the second half, led by Jones, who grabbed nine caroms in the final 20 minutes.

Those defensive and rebounding efforts began to take affect midway through the final stanza as a pair of Jones free throws following an offensive board sparked a 22-2 charge.

A run capped by a Jones putback 3-point play that gave NNU a 53-51 lead with 4:18 left on the clock.

Once on top, the Crusaders hit 6-of-8 free throws to ice the comeback win.

N'Diaye led the way for NNU with a career-high 30 points, which included a career-best six 3-pointers in the win. He also grabbed eight rebounds for NNU.

Jones added 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win as he scored 12 points and had those nine boards in the final 20-minute comeback for the Crusaders, who get a short break to celebrate the win before hitting the road once again to play at Central Washington on Tuesday night.