CALDWELL, Idaho – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team lost 90-69 on Tuesday in the second leg of the United Heritage Mayors' Cup at College of Idaho.

The Nighthawks struggled defensively all night, allowing the Coyotes to make 14 3-pointers. The loss means the two teams split the season series after NNU won 66-57 last week at home.

"We outscored ourselves by three from last week, we just didn't play defense and we let them get open shots," NNU coach Paul Rush said. "They had a lot of momentum, especially early."

College of Idaho jumped out to an 11-2 lead before the Nighthawks pulled back within 14-12. The Coyotes then went on a 20-5 run to blow the game open.

The Nighthawks (3-1 overall) rallied again, pulling within 38-28 on a fastbreak dunk by George Reidy with 4:06 left in the first half, but they couldn't maintain the momentum as the Coyotes went into halftime leading 45-28.

"There is a lot to learn from this for sure," Rush said. "We couldn't guard a handoff from a big to a guard to save our lives. If we are able to guard something like that we are a lot better off. That one got us in rotation a whole bunch."

College of Idaho (5-1) extended its run from the end of the first half, eventually leading 59-32 on a back-cut dunk by Nate Bruneel.

Ezekiel Alley had a team-high 18 points, while Adalberto Diaz added 15 points and six rebounds. George Reidy had 12 points, Olamilekan Adetunji had eight points, including a breakaway dunk. Jaylen Fox had five assists and Gabriel Murphy had six rebounds.

"We gave them 18 turnovers and they had 12 offensive rebounds, so that is 30 possessions we gave them," Rush said. "They made 14 of 35 3-pointers. Look at last Tuesday, we were right there on a lot of the 3s and tonight we weren't. We kept missing simple defensive assignments and we were in rotation a lot and it led to a lot of open 3s for them."

NNU plays at Cal State Los Angeles at 8 p.m. MST on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The Nighthawks return home to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5 against Saint Martin's.