NAMPA, Idaho - In a battle of top-25 teams in their respective divisions, Northwest Nazarene men's basketball pulled away from Lewis-Clark State in the secondhalf to take a hard-fought, 93-81 victory.

No. 17/23 NNU earns their seventh-straight win, and remains at 8-1 on the year with the game played as an exhibition for both sides. LCSC, who is ranked fourth in the NAIA, came into the game with a 12-1 record.

The Nighthawks shot very well from deep and from the free throw line, hitting 46.2% (12-26) of their shots from beyond the arc and 86.4% (19-22) from the charity stripe. NNU assisted on 21 of their 31 made baskets and only committed 10 turnovers offensively. The Nighthawks forced 18 Warrior turnovers on the other end, turning those into 26 points. 

Ezekiel Alley had his fifth 20-point game of the season, leading all scorers with 27 points. Alley was nearly perfect on offense, making eight of his ten shots including a 4-4 mark from deep and 7-7 outing from the free throw line.

George Reidy posted another solid stat line of 16 points, four rebounds, and three assists. James Nelson recorded a season-best 16 points, also pulling down seven rebounds to lead the Nighthawks. Sam Roth tallied nine points and five rebounds, Tru Allen registered seven points and four steals, and Kobe Terashima had two steals and dished out four assists.

LCSC looked very strong at the start, playing stifling defense to jump out to leads of 9-1 at the 16:07 mark and 14-5 with 13:34 on the clock. NNU quickly erased that deficit, though, tying the game at 19 on a Sam Roth triple before taking a 21-20 lead on an Alley bucket in the paint with 9:39 to go in the half.

The Warriors grabbed the lead back immediately, however, and would hold it through the rest of the half to take a 44-42 advantage into the break.

LCSC extended that lead to five, 54-49, three minutes into the second period, but the Nighthawks proceeded to go on a 22-4 run to take control of the game. Reidy and Alley started the run with back-to-back triples, and Nelson recorded an and-one moments later to put NNU up four. After an Allen free throw, Gabriel Murphy slammed home a two-handed dunk to put the Nighthawks up seven at the 14:37 mark.

Brandon Recek and Alley each scored four points over the next four minutes, with Alley's jumper at the 10:51 mark giving the NIghthawks a 13-point advantage, 71-58.

NNU kept its foot on the gas, extending the lead to 17 a few minutes later with a Nelson triple in transition. The Nighthawks had to withstand a late run by the Warriors that briefly cut the lead below nine, but NNU pulled the margin back into double-digits to earn the 93-81 victory.