NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball got a huge GNAC victory on Saturday night, defeating Seattle Pacific 78-62 in the Johnson Sports Center.
SPU came into the game tied for second in the GNAC standings, but the Nighthawks were able to utilize their best shooting night of the season to earn the double-digit victory.
With the win, the Nighthawks move to 8-11 on the year and 5-6 in GNAC play.
How It Happened
NNU jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with five points coming from
Gabriel Murphy, capped by his and-one at the 17:56 mark. SPU would come back to take a brief 16-15 lead midway through the half and the two teams would be tied at 20 with 8:20 to go in the period.
The Nighthawks caught fire from there, scoring on six straight possessions for a 10-0 run as
Aaron Murphy's third-straight layup put NNU up 30-20 at the 4:32 mark. NNU would extend their lead to 12 by halftime, with a
Jaylen Fox jumper in the final minute making it 37-25 in favor of the Nighthawks.
The momentum carried over to the second half for NNU, as they quickly built their largest lead of the game at 19 after a Gabe Murphy jumper made it 51-31 five minutes into the period. SPU cut the deficit down to single digits momentarily, but another big run for the Nighthawks put them back up by 19 again, 68-49, with six minutes remaining.
The Nighthawks coasted from there, rolling to the 16-point victory.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU moves into a tie for fifth with Central Washington in the GNAC standings with seven games to play in the regular season
- The Nighthawks had their best shooting night of the season, making 55.4% (31-56) of their overall attempts and 45.5% (5-11) from deep
- SPU came into the game with top five field goal and three-point percentages in all of NCAA Division II, and the Nighthawks held the Falcons to 40% from the field and 28.6% from deep
- NNU outrebounded SPU 34-30 and dominated points in the paint at 52-32
- The Nighthawks led for 92.5% of the game
- Gabe Murphy led the team with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds
- Aaron Murphy had 13 points and six boards off the bench
- Tru Allen added 14 points, six rebounds, and two steals
- Ryzin Bergersen (Biggie) was also in double figures with 13 points
- Kobe Terashima dished out a season-high eight assists
- Christian Rose had a huge defensive effort with three steals and three blocks
Next Up
NNU heads to Alaska next week, visiting Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.
