NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball opened the 2022-23 season with a convincing 110-77 victory over Evergreen State to cap off Homecoming Weekend on Saturday night.
How It Happened
NNU was able to pull away from Evergreen State midway through the opening half, taking a double-digit lead at 26-15 on a layup from
Tru Allen.
The teams would go back-and-forth for the rest of the half, with the Nighthawks eventually taking a 53-44 advantage into halftime after a
Christian Rose dunk in the final seconds.
The Geoducks were not able to hang around in the second half, as NNU started pulling even farther ahead and would take a 20-point lead, 85-65, on a
Gabriel Murphy jumper at the 8:11 mark.
Over the final eight minutes, the Nighthawks outscored the Geoducks 25-12, eventually taking the 33-point win.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks win their season-opener for the eighth-straight year, dating back to the 2015-16 season
- NNU outrebounded ESC 45-26 and won the turnover battle with just 12 committed to 22 forced
- The Nighthawks shot 54.8% in the game and 30.4% from beyond the arc
- NNU outpaced Evergreen State 22-8 in second-chance points and 32-11 in points off turnovers
- Tru Allen led the Nighthawks with career-high 23 points to go along with six assists and five steals
- Christian Rose also set a new career-best with 20 points, going 7-9 from the field and adding four rebounds
- Yaru Harvey tallied 15 points in his Nighthawks' debut
- Kobe Terashima was also in double figures with 14 points and added five assists
- Timothy TenKley was the fifth Nighthawk to score in double digits with 10
- Gabriel Murphy just missed a double-double with nine points and seven boards
- Ryzin Bergersen had a new career-best of nine points
- Mason Machado had seven rebounds, with six coming on the offensive end
Next Up
The Nighthawks will travel south to face their Nazarene rivals on Tuesday night, visiting Point Loma at 7:00 p.m. Pacific.
