Box Score SEATTLE, Wash. – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team is off to its best start in more than a decade.

A big run late in Thursday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener is a big reason why.

The Nighthawks (6-0 overall, 1-0 GNAC) defeated Seattle Pacific 87-86, using an 18-3 run to hold off the Falcons.

"The run was more about not letting them score every time down the floor," NNU coach Paul Rush said. "We got some stops. One of the things that was really encouraging was we finished the game with guys I wasn't expecting to and it showed off our depth."

NNU trailed 72-65 with 5 minutes, 58 seconds remaining before the run. Adonis Arms had nine points and Obi Megwa during the spurt that put the Nighthawks on top 83-75 with 27 seconds left.

SPU, which was picked to finish second in the GNAC in the preseason coaches poll, hit three 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds, including one at the buzzer to make the score close.

Arms finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Megwa had 18 points, while Jayden Bezzant added 14 and Adalberto Diaz had 13.

"Adonis was proudest about the eight rebounds," Rush said. "We knew they were a tough rebounding team and he put his mind to something that we had tried to identify."

NNU was last unbeaten this late in season in 2007 when the Nighthawks opened 8-0. They finished 17-10 overall that season.

"The win tonight showed us something about our ceiling," Rush said. "We were able to win an ugly game and a game on the road, which is tough in this conference. We showed we can win not playing our best. That is the big takeaway from this game."

The win against the Falcons (2-3, 0-1) is the third in a row for NNU in the series. The Nighthawks play at 8 p.m. MST on Saturday at Saint Martin's. The Saints were picked to win the GNAC in the preseason coaches poll.