Box Score




NAMPA, Idaho — At this time of year, the only thing that needs to be pretty about a game is having the score in your favor.

Off to a slow start, the Crusaders battled out of a 12-point hole and weathered a comeback threat from last-place Simon Fraser to score a key, 88-82, victory on Thursday night in Northwest Nazarene's push toward the Great Northwest Athletic Conference playoffs.

"Bottom line, we won the game," NNU head men's basketball coach Scott Flemming said. "It was not an easy win; give them credit, they shot it really well and they're a team that plays hard," NNU's coach added of the Clan, who last weekend scored their first GNAC win with an upset of third-place Western Oregon. "They've been playing well lately."
 

That continued Thursday as the Clan jumped out to a 23-11 lead against the host Crusaders, forcing NNU to intensify their effort on defense.

"We had some stretches where I wasn't happy with the way we played, we didn't come out with the energy we needed defensively, or getting back on defense," Flemming said.

But down a dozen, NNU cracked down on the defensive end, forcing five turnovers and holding the Clan to 2-of-6 shooting, pushing in front with a 19-5 run led by six points from Carlos Garcia and capped by a Maurice Jones 3-pointer.

In front 30-28, the Crusaders (12-11 overall, 9-8 GNAC) continued to push and built a 39-33 lead at the break on a pair of Jones free throws, and went ahead 62-48 midway through the second half on a Jayden Bezzant layup.

"We kind of got it in gear, weathered the storm and came back and took the lead at halftime," Flemming said.
 

But the Clan (3-22, 1-16) didn't roll over, whittling away at NNU's advantage and closing to within three points twice down the stretch.

But a Bouna N'Diaye 3-pointer staved off one Clan charge, then N'Diaye — who finished with a game-high 25 points — added a layup to thwart the second close call and help the Crusaders ice the win.

"He's the one guy — we run a lot of isolations for him and he can take you on the dribble and score it, and then if you lay off him he can knock down the 3," Flemming said, adding, "he only hit one 3 tonight and it was a big one."

While N'Diaye led the way, Jones added his 14^th double-double of the season to help the Crusaders to the win, scoring 13 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Kaileb Rodriguez and Bezzant each chipped in 15 points apiece in the victory, and Garcia scored 10 for NNU, which is tied for fourth in the GNAC standings with three games remaining.

Next up in the push for the playoffs is a big test, and on "Senior Night", as the Crusaders host GNAC co-leader Western Washington on Saturday at 7 p.m. NNU will honor seniors N'Diaye, Rodriguez and Pol Olivier prior to the game.