ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Northwest Nazarene men's basketball led for most of the afternoon against Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday, but the Golden Eagles rallied late to defeat the Nighthawks 77-73.
 
The Nighthawks fall to 1-2 on the young season.
 
NNU would lead by as much as nine in the first half, with a Christian Rose and-one putting the Nighthawks up 24-15 at the 9:02 mark.
 
The Golden Eagles fought back to bring the lead to two, but NNU again pulled away to a nine-point lead just before halftime when a Ryzin Bergersen free throw made it 40-31 with 1:49 to go. CSULA closed the half strong, though, scoring six of the last seven points to cut NNU's advantage to four, 41-37, at the break.
 
NNU took the momentum back to open the second half, building their largest lead of the game of 12 when an Aaron Murphy and-one made it 55-43 at the 15:23 mark.
 
CSULA would go on a very fast 10-0 run, however, cutting the deficit to two just three minutes later. The Golden Eagles eventually took the lead with five minutes left at 65-63 and would build it to seven, 71-64, with 3:12 to play.
 
NNU did not go away quietly, as a Rayzhon Bergersen triple and Rose free throw brought the Nighthawks back within two at 75-73 in the final moments, but NNU would run out of time and fall 77-73.
 
Ryzin Bergersen led the Nighthawks with 20 points, followed by Gabriel Murphy with a massive double-double of 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
 
Rose also finished with a double-double, tallying 10 points and 11 boards. Rayzhon Bergersen also reached double figures for the first time in his young career with 10 points.
 
NNU will come back to Nampa ahead of next week's NNU Thanksgiving Classic, hosting Azusa Pacific on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Point Loma on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Johnson Sports Center.
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