BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball used their best shooting performance of the season in the biggest moment thus far as they defeated three-seed Seattle Pacific 82-74 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2023 GNAC Championships.
NNU, the six-seed in the tournament, shot 55.8% (29-52) from the field and 56.3% (9-16) from deep in the victory, led by incredible performances from
Ryzin Bergersen (19 points, 6-10 from the field, 3-5 from deep) and
Gabriel Murphy (17 points, 7 rebounds, 8-10 from the field).
The Nighthawks will now face 2-seed MSU Billings in the GNAC Semifinals at noon on Friday in WWU's Carver Gym.
How It Happened
Seattle Pacific started the game off extremely hot, hitting their first five three-point attempts to take a 15-5 lead after four minutes of action. The Falcons did not slow down, building a 15-point first-half lead of 25-10 at the 10:55 mark.
NNU would bounce back over the next four minutes, though, going on a 10-0 run of their own that included a pair of triples from
Timothy TenKley and cut the deficit to 25-20 with 8:10 to go in the half.
That was as close as the Nighthawks would get in the opening period, however, as the Falcons controlled the game the rest of the half to take a 10-point lead, 43-33, into the break.
Both teams were ridiculously hot from the field in the opening 20 minutes, with SPU shooting 66.7% from the floor and 60% (6-10) from deep compared to 52.2% from the floor and 71.4% (5-7) from three for NNU. The Nighthawks also turned the ball over a costly 10 times in the first half, leading to 15 points off giveaways for the Falcons.
Things changed in the second half, though, and did they ever change for the better. The Nighthawks opened the second period on a 15-5 run over the first seven minutes, with a Bergersen jumper tying the game at 48 at the 13:18 mark.
NNU took their first lead of the game just moments later, as after a pair of SPU free throws
Timothy TenKley drilled a three pointer to make it 51-50. The teams would go back-and-forth over the next five minutes, eventually tied again at 60 with 7:38 to play.
The Nighthawks then took charge, with Gabe Murphy taking back the lead on back-to-back jumpers. From there, two free throws from Bergersen, an emphatic baseline dunk from TenKley, and a three-pointer from Bergersen capped an 11-1 run to put NNU up 10, 71-61, with 3:22 remaining.
SPU had a bit of fight left, cutting the NNU lead to four, 76-72, with 48 seconds to go, but NNU would make a few free throws and hold off the challenge for the 82-74 victory.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU earns their first GNAC Championships victory since 2019 and advance to their fourth GNAC tournament semifinals in program history
- Against MSUB, the Nighthawks will be looking to make program history as a win would advance them into their first-ever GNAC Final
- In today's quarterfinal win, NNU recorded their highest field goal percentage (55.8) and three-point percentage (56.3) of the season
- The 82 points for the Nighthawks are the fourth-most this year, and second-most in a game that did not go to overtime, trailing just the season opener against Evergreen State where they put 110 on the scoreboard
- NNU outrebounded SPU 32-23, with nine on the offensive end
- After the 10 first-half turnovers, the Nighthawks cleaned up in a big way with just three giveaways in the second period
- Bergersen led the team with 19 points, shooting 6-10 from the field and 3-5 from deep
- Gabe Murphy added 17 points on 8-10 shooting along with seven boards
- TenKley had 15 points, going 4-5 from the field and 3-4 from deep
- Kobe Terashima was excellent at the point, dishing out nine assists with just two turnovers while adding five points
- Tru Allen chipped in 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists
Next Up
As mentioned, NNU will take on second-seeded Montana State Billings in the semifinals on Friday at noon Pacific, looking to make their first-ever GNAC Final. The Nighthawks will also be looking for their first win against the Yellowjackets this season, playing both games very close but falling 54-48 in Billings and 60-58 in Nampa.
