FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball dominated Alaska Fairbanks on the road Saturday to the tune of a 69-54 victory.
With the win, the Nighthawks improve to 10-11 on the year and are now over .500 in GNAC play at 7-6 with five games remaining in the regular season.
How It Happened
Ryzin Bergersen got things going for the Nighthawks with a three on the opening possession, but NNU and UAF would stay close over the first six minutes as they were tied at 13 at the 13:51 mark.
NNU turned it on from there, though, going on a 21-5 run over the next seven minutes as a
Gabriel Murphy layup made it 34-18 in favor of the Nighthawks. That sixteen-point lead would be cut to 11 before the break, with NNU going into halftime up 39-28.
The momentum swung back NNU's way to start the second, as it took less than four minutes for the Nighthawks to build their lead up to 22, 50-28, on a
Christian Rose layup at the 16:33 mark.
The Nighthawks would control the rest of the game, keeping the lead up near 20 for the majority of the final 15 minutes before taking the 15-point victory.
Nighthawks Notes
- With Western Oregon's loss at Saint Martin's to drop to 6-6 in GNAC play, the Nighthawks are now fourth in the conference standings with their 7-6 mark
- NNU held UAF to just 34.8% shooting (16-46) while shooting 45.9% on their end offensively
- NNU outrebounded UAF 36-27 and demolished the Nanooks in the paint with a margin of 48-14
- The Nighthawks led for 95% of the game following the tight first few minutes
- Four Nighthawks were in double figures, led by Tru Allen with 12 points
- Timothy TenKley had 11 points, while Kobe Terashima and Yaru Harvey each had 10
- Gabe Murphy tallied seven points and nine rebounds, bringing his career rebounding total to 504, just the third men's basketball player in NNU's Division II era to reach the 500-rebound milestone
- Christian Rose also added seven points, five rebounds, and three steals
- With their eighth win over Alaska Fairbanks in the last nine meetings, NNU now moves into the all-time wins lead over the Nanooks at 22-21
- Adding tonight to their win over Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, this is just the second time in program history that NNU has swept the road contests against the Alaska programs
Next Up
NNU stays on the road next week for a single game, visiting Central Washington on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6:15 PM Pacific.
