BELLINGHAM, Wash. – All Adonis Arms could think about was that if the shot he was watching went in he was going to lay down on the court and cry.

When it banged off the top of the backboard, though, he celebrated joyously with the rest of his teammates.

Arms missed a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left Thursday, but Simon Fraser couldn't hit a desperation shot at the buzzer and the NNU men's basketball team escaped with a 76-75 GNAC Basketball Championships quarterfinal victory.

"I tried to take my time on the line and when it's clutch, I'm usually cash money," he said. "I don't know this time. It just came up short."

In the end, though, it didn't matter.

The Nighthawks struggled most of the game, but senior Nikola Prvulj provided a huge lift off the bench and Jayden Bezzant picked up the scoring slack as Arms and Obi Megwa both struggled against stifling Simon Fraser defense.

"My biggest takeaway is how mentally tough the guys were," NNU coach Paul Rush said. "That hasn't been the case all season for us, but tonight they did a tremendous job in a high-pressure situation."

With the win the Nighthawks (20-7) advance to the semifinals to play Seattle Pacific at 6:15 p.m. MST on Friday. The two teams split in the regular season with the Falcons winning in Nampa last Saturday 87-82.

Getting to the semifinals, though, was no easy feat.

NNU trailed by as many as 10 in the second half but got a spark from an unlikely source to get back in it.

Senior Nikola Prvulj hit a 3-pointer, had a steal and a layup and then added another layup to bring the energy of the team up and help keep the Clan from blowing the game open.

"I just play basketball," he said. "I've played all my life. All I know how to do is score the ball. My responsibilities have changed a little bit the last couple of years, but that's how I know to play.

"I'm glad I was a big part of this game."

Prvulj was part of a 15-5 run as NNU erased a 52-42 lead to tie the game at 57-57 on a pair of Zac Furgerson free throws.

NNU took its first lead of the second half at the 7:59 mark when Obi Megwa hit a 3-pointer to put the Nighthawks on top 62-61.

Simon Fraser eventually pulled ahead to a 69-64 lead with less than five minutes remaining, but again NNU rallied.

Arms made two free throws and two layups to make it a one-point game and Bezzant hit a ridiculous stepback jumper at the end of the shot clock to pull NNU within 74-72.

The Nighthawks tied it up as both Megwa and Bezzant made 1-of-2 free throws and took the lead for good on a crossover, stepback jumper from the baseline by Arms.

"This is amazing," Bezzant said of the win. "First tournament win at NNU. I'm super happy for the guys and I'm happy I had a good night too."

Bezzant finished with a team-high 19 points as the Clan worked hard to deny the ball from Arms and Megwa.

The pair combined for just one first-half field goal and neither reached double digits scoring until late in the second half.

In the end, though, it didn't matter as the Nighthawks played stifling defense down the stretch and got big plays from all over the roster.

Arms finished with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Megwa had 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting, while Sam Roth added four points and nine rebounds.

Adalberto Diaz and Prvulj both had seven points.

"We believe in ourselves to win every game," Arms said.

No matter who is hitting – or not hitting – the clutch shot.