ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Northwest Nazarene men's basketball dropped a heartbreaker to Westminster on Friday night, with a Griffins' three-pointer going down at the buzzer for a 75-74 win.
 
The Nighthawks fall to 1-1 on the young season.
 
NNU started well, jumping out to an 8-2 lead on a Tru Allen layup at the 16:41 mark of the opening half.
 
Westminster battled back, however, and would take a four-point lead, 33-29, into halftime.
 
The Griffins led by as much as six early in the second half, 44-38 at the 14:52 mark. NNU quickly erased that deficit to tie the game at 46 with 12 minutes to play.
 
After a 51-51 tie with 9:10 remaining, the Nighthawks went on a 9-1 run capped by an Aaron Murphy layup that put NNU up eight with just under seven minutes left.
 
Westminster did not go away, cutting the lead all the way down to one with 24 seconds to play. After two made free throws from Allen, the Griffins scored immediately to cancel it out. With seven seconds left, Jaylen Fox went one of two from the line to give Westminster the ball down two.
 
Chase Potter, who led all players in scoring on the night at 34 points, drained a deep three-pointer as time expired to hand Westminster the 75-74 victory.
 
Allen led NNU with 18 points and four steals, followed by Gabriel Murphy with 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
Ryzin Bergersen added 13 points, while Christian Rose and Aaron Murphy each had 12. Rose also had eight boards and two blocks.
 
NNU will stay in Ellensburg for one more game, taking on Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.
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