FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team needed a win.

What the Nighthawks did Saturday, though, was completely unexpected.

The Nighthawks rolled to a 94-52 victory against the University of Alaska in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory.

It was the biggest scoring margin for the Nighthawks against an NCAA Division II team since moving up to the NCAA in 2001. It was the least amount of points they'd allowed since a 53-36 win at Point Loma in 2012.

"I feel like we have this program going in the right direction, so it is kind of fun setting a new standard and setting some records," NNU coach Paul Rush said.

The victory keeps NNU (13-8 overall, 10-6 GNAC) in a three-way tie for second place with Western Washington and Western Oregon with four games remaining. The top six teams advance to the GNAC tournament and there are six teams within two games of second place.

After losing in overtime Thursday at Alaska Anchorage, Saturday's matchup with the Nanooks proved to be a big one.

"I was really encouraged by our guys' ability to flush a tough game on Thursday night and be locked in for an afternoon game up here," Rush said. "We showed a high level of mental toughness and were able to execute a game plan really well."

Beyond the scoring marks, the Nighthawks also shut down one of the most prolific scorers in the country.

Alaska junior Shadeed Shabazz came into the game averaging 26.7 points per game, which is fourth in the country and easily leads the GNAC. On Saturday, he scored three points. All on free throws.

"We did the same game plan against them as at our place," Rush said. "The guys around him didn't score as much today as they did at (Nampa)."

Shabazz had scored in double digits in all but one game this season and had scored at least 21 points in his last 11 contests. In the first meeting between the teams, the Nighthawks held Shabazz in check until the final three minutes when he scored 12 points in 90 seconds to make a game of it late.

This time, the Nighthawks dominated from the outset, making eight of their first 12 3-pointers and finishing 13-of-25 from beyond the arc for the game. They shot 58.7 percent from the field (37-63), had 40 points in the paint and 35 off the bench.

"We did a good job of working inside-outside 3s early and were able to knock down a couple of those and that led us to starting the game hot," Rush said.

Jayden Bezzant had a game-high 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting, with five rebounds and five assists. Ezekiel Alley had 18 points, six steals, four assists and three rebounds, Adalberto Diaz had 13 points and seven rebounds, Jaylen Fox had 11 points, Sam Roth had 10 points and eight rebounds and Olamilekan Adetunji had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Spencer Sweet's 16 points led Alaska (10-14, 9-7).

NNU hosts Concordia at 7:30 p.m. Thursday as part of a doubleheader with the women's team.