BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball and Montana State Billings went down to the wire on Thursday night, with the Nighthawks emerging with a 68-67 overtime victory to open GNAC play.
How It Happened
- NNU started well, racing out to a ten-point lead, 23-13, with eight minutes to play in the opening period.
- The Yellowjackets clawed back, though, going on a 16-8 run to go into halftime trailing NNU by two, 31-29.
- NNU held on to that lead until the 12:31 mark, when MSUB nailed a triple to go up 46-45.
- The Nighthawks took the lead back four minutes later on a Tru Allen layup, and the teams traded blows over the final minutes of the half until the Nighthawks took a 60-58 lead on a George Reidy layup with 2:14 to go.
- That score nearly stood as the final, but MSUB would score with just five seconds to play to send the game to overtime.
- The Yellowjackets scored the first three points of the extra period, but back-to-back threes from Christian Rose and Gabriel Murphy put NNU back on top with 2:25 remaining.
- Rose added a jumper a minute later, and NNU's defense held MSUB to just four more points to secure the 68-67 win.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks snap a three-game slide with their second win of the season, improving to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in GNAC play.
- NNU improves to 21-11 all-time against the Yellowjackets, including the last six in a row.
- This is NNU's first win in a GNAC opener since the 2018-19 season, when the Nighthawks defeated Seattle Pacific on the road to open conference play.
- Murphy notched his fourth double-double in a row, scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. He was 5-7 from the floor and 4-5 from three in the game.
- Tru Allen was next with 13 points and four steals, going 6-7 from the free throw line.
- Christian Rose and George Reidy both had 12 points to round out the double-figure scoring for NNU.
- Kobe Terashima did his usual filling of the stat sheet, recording seven points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Next Up
The Nighthawks continue their GNAC-opening road swing this Saturday in Seattle, taking on Seattle Pacific at 4:15 p.m. Pacific.
