BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball kept close on the road at Montana State Billings on Saturday, but could not hand the Yellowjackets their first GNAC loss as the Nighthawks fell 54-48.
The Nighthawks drop to 4-8 on the season and 1-3 in GNAC play. MSUB improves to 10-4 and 4-0 in the conference.
How It Happened
Ryzin Bergersen came out strong early in his second start of the season, making his first two attempts from beyond the arc to put the Nighthawks up 6-2 after three minutes of play.
MSUB went on a quick 7-0 run to take the lead, however, and led by as much as nine in the opening half before NNU closed the period on a 9-2 run to go into the break down by just two, 24-22.
The Yellowjackets built their lead back up to nine a couple of times in the second half, the latest at 44-39 with 10 minutes to play.
The Nighthawks did not go away, though, chipping away over the next nine minutes to tie things up at 48 with 1:20 left. Bergersen had a big and-one to cut the deficit to two before
Gabriel Murphy knocked down two free throws to pull even.
NNU would be stuck at 48 points when the final buzzer sounded, however, as MSUB scored the final six points of the game on a layup and four free throws.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks dominated the boards, grabbing 45 rebounds to 33 for MSUB, including a 17-5 edge on the offensive glass
- Bergersen led the Nighthawks with 14 points including three triples, along with two steals and a block
- Three Nighthawks were next with seven points in Tru Allen, Gabriel Murphy, and Aaron Murphy
- Gabe Murphy had nine boards while brother Aaron had eight
- Kobe Terashima added four assists
Next Up
NNU returns home for their first games in the Johnson Sports Center in over two weeks, hosting Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.
