Box Score





NAMPA, Idaho — Undaunted by the loss of their leading rebounder and No. 2 scorer, the Crusaders battled on Thursday night at the Johnson Sports Center.

Determined, the Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team shook off a slow start, rallied out of a 12-point hole, and looked to be in control after a commanding 17-2 surge in the second half.

But just as NNU was poised to possibly complete a season-sweep of defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Western Oregon, the Wolves stole the game, 69-67, on a last-second driving layup by Ali Faruq-Bey.

"We need to make some plays, we made some mental mistakes toward the end," NNU head coach Scott Flemming said. "It's just a shame we didn't get this one, this one would have been big."

With Maurice Jones — who averages 15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds, and has turned in eight double-doubles this season for NNU — sidelined because of a minor injury, the Crusaders battled out of a 24-12 deficit in the first half, a comeback reminiscent of their efforts at Western Oregon on New Year's Eve.

That afternoon, the Crusaders erased a 23-point deficit in the second half and scored a 64-59 win.
 

In that same comeback style, NNU (8-9 overall, 5-6 GNAC) used a 21-8 run in the opening half and took a 33-32 lead on a Marko Lepovic 3-point play with 2 ½ minutes to go until halftime.

The Wolves (10-9, 7-4) inched back in front, up 36-33 at the break, and led 45-37 when another Crusaders charge put them in control of the game.

Over the next 8 ½ minutes, NNU's defense clamped down, holding the Wolves to an icy 1-of-16 from the field and forcing three turnovers.

And the Crusaders charged into the lead with a 17-2 run, going up 48-47 on a Nikola Prvulj 3-pointer, and stretching their advantage to 55-47 with 7 minutes to play on a Spider Adetunji free throw.

But a pair of Malik Leaks 3-pointers reignited the Wolves, who closed to 57-55 down on Leaks' second triple.

And the Wolves kept coming, taking leads of 65-63 and 67-65 late.

The Crusaders' Kaileb Rodriguez evened the game with two freebies with 10 seconds left, but the game then slipped away as Faruq-Bey brought the ball up-court, drove to the lane and made a tough running layup to win the game for Western Oregon with 3 ticks left on the clock.

Jayden Bezzant led the way for NNU with 16 points in the heartbreaking setback, while Rodriguez had nine points and 10 rebounds. Bouna N'Diaye added 12 points and Pol Olivier scored 11 for the Crusaders, who look to bounce back when they host Concordia on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.