BURNABY, B.C. – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball bounced back from last Saturday's defeat with a good road win over Simon Fraser, defeating the Red Leafs 64-62 on Thursday.
The Nighthawks improve to 7-9 on the year and 4-4 in GNAC play.
How It Happened
Simon Fraser took the lead early, jumping out to a 9-0 advantage after four minutes of action. A
Yaru Harvey triple got the Nighthawks on the board, but SFU would still hold a 16-9 lead with 10:21 to play in the first half.
The Nighthawks would claw back before the break, taking their first lead of the game on a
Gabriel Murphy jumper with five minutes left to put NNU up 20-19.
Tru Allen then put the Nighthawks up four, 27-23, going into halftime with a layup in the final minute.
Simon Fraser opened the second half much like the first, going on a run that put the Red Leafs up 39-34 at the 14:09 mark.
NNU would answer again over the next five minutes, with
Ryzin Bergersen giving the Nighthawks back the lead, 48-47, on a triple with 8:39 to play.
NNU kept the momentum going and led for nearly all of the final six minutes, going up by six, 62-56, on a
Kobe Terashima layup with 48 seconds remaining. The Red Leafs made a couple of threes in the closing seconds, but NNU made two free throws to keep the game out of reach and win 64-62.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks shot 45.6% from the floor while holding SFU to 37%
- Murphy played well in his return after missing last week's game, just missing a double-double with a team-leading 16 points and nine rebounds
- Yaru Harvey added 12 points and Tru Allen 10 to round out NNU's double-digit scorers
- Kobe Terashima dished out five assists while notching eight points
- NNU is now 3-1 in the new year of 2023
- The Nighthawks improve to 19-4 all-time against Simon Fraser, including winning the last five in a row and 12 of the last 13
Next Up
NNU will now cross back over the border to face Western Washington in Bellingham on Saturday night, set for a 7:00 p.m. Pacific opening tip.
