NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball made it two wins in a row to start 2023 with a 48-47 victory over Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night.
The Nighthawks improve to 6-8 on the year and 3-3 in GNAC play.
How It Happened
Tru Allen got the scoring going with a pair of free throws, but Anchorage would lead for most of the first half as both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket.
UAA led 28-24 at the break, with 18 of their 26 points coming on six three-pointers.
The Seawolves would go up by seven early in the second half, but a three from
Ryzin Bergersen and a layup by
Yaru Harvey quickly cut the deficit to two, 31-29, at the 16:47 mark.
UAA held off NNU momentarily, but the Nighthawks would eventually take the lead on an and-one from Allen with 8:19 remaining, as he converted the free throw to make it 38-37 in favor of NNU.
That bucket was part of an 11-0 run for the Nighthawks, as Bergersen then nailed back-to-back triples to cap the run and give NNU its largest lead of the game at seven, 44-37, with seven minutes to play.
The Seawolves would battle back, though, cutting the NNU lead all the way down to one, 48-47, with 45 seconds left. After a shot clock violation, UAA had a chance to take the lead, but a missed three pointer and turnover gave the ball back to NNU and put the game away.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks outrebounded the Seawolves 42-30, with a 12-2 advantage in second-half points
- Tru Allen was the only player in the game in double-digit scoring with 11 points
- Gabriel Murphy pulled down 11 rebounds to go with seven points
- Kobe Terashima added seven rebounds and Aaron Murphy notched six boards
Next Up
NNU will have just one game next week, staying in Nampa to host Central Washington on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
