CALDWELL, Idaho – The Mayor's Cup is headed back to Nampa. Northwest Nazarene men's basketball earned an exciting 80-70 victory over the College of Idaho on Wednesday night, the Nighthawks first road win in the rivalry series since 2012.
How It Happened
C of I got off to a hot start shooting the ball, hitting six of their first nine triples to take an 11-point lead, 28-17, with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half.
Helped by two and-ones from
Christian Rose and a three from
Jaylen Fox, the Nighthawks were able to climb back into it before the break. Fox's triple came with less than a minute left in the half, sending NNU into the break down 40-36.
The Nighthawks kept that momentum up to start the second period, quickly tying things up at 42 two minutes into the half on an alley-oop from
Kobe Terashima to a flying
Christian Rose.
NNU would take the lead two minutes later as
George Reidy found Fox in transition for a deep triple that made it 47-46 in favor of the Nighthawks.
The Yotes bounced back to take a 50-49 lead at the 13:06 mark, but NNU then responded with an 11-0 run to take a 60-50 advantage and force a C of I timeout with ten minutes to play.
James Nelson had eight of the 11, knocking down a three and converting an and-one to open the run. Fox then nailed another triple and Nelson capped the streak with a layup.
College of Idaho would not go away quietly, though, cutting the NNU lead to 65-60 on a four-point play with 5:45 to go.
That was as close as the Yotes would get, however, as NNU quickly built the lead back up to ten, where it remained for the rest of the game.
Nighthawks Notes
- The victory is NNU's first in Caldwell since the 2012-13 season, when the Nighthawks defeated the Yotes 63-50. It was the 209th meeting all-time between NNU and C of I.
- The game will officially go down as an exhibition for the Nighthawks, while it was a counting game for the Yotes.
- College of Idaho had just recently been ranked 18th nationally in the NAIA.
- Four Nighthawks were in double figures, led by 18 from George Reidy on 6-11 shooting. James Nelson was next with 16 points and seven rebounds, followed by Christian Rose with 13 and Jaylen Fox with 11.
- Gabriel Murphy was unstoppable on the glass, pulling down nine rebounds including three on the offensive end.
- Kobe Terashima didn't quite match his season-opening output of 10 assists, but still led the team with an impressive eight in the victory.
- NNU outpaced C of I in many metrics, including a 44-26 advantage in the paint, 13-7 in points off turnovers, and 27-17 in bench points.
Up Next
NNU will fly south tomorrow for the 2021 Javelina Classic, facing Angelo State in a neutral site game on Friday before taking on host Texas A&M Kingsville on Saturday.
