BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball has achieved what no team in program history has done before, defeating top-seeded and 20
th-ranked Saint Martin's 65-57 in Saturday's final to claim the GNAC Men's Basketball Championship.
With the momentous victory, NNU earns the first GNAC title in program history and the automatic bid for their second-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament, joining the 2021 squad that earned an at-large selection.
Ryzin Bergersen was named the Championships MVP after leading all scorers with 22 points, going 7-10 from the floor and an incredible 6-7 from three. He also scored 19 points in the quarterfinals against Seattle Pacific and nine in the semifinals against Montana State Billings, and for the weekend was an amazing 12-16 (75%) from deep.
The Nighthawks will now await the NCAA DII Men's Basketball Selection Show to find out their seed, location, and opponent in next week's opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is set to air on NCAA.com on Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
How It Happened
Instead of waiting until the second half to really turn things on like in their first two wins of this tournament, the Nighthawks came right out of the gates on fire. After SMU made a jumper on their first possession to take the lead,
Ryzin Bergersen proceeded to score on NNU's next three possessions, hitting a runner in the lane before drilling back-to-back threes.
The run did not stop there, as a
Tru Allen triple, another deep three-pointer from Bergersen, and a steal and fastbreak slam from
Christian Rose put the Nighthawks up 16-5 after just five minutes of action.
SMU stopped the bleeding temporarily with a bucket to cut the deficit to nine, but NNU responded with an 11-2 run including yet another Bergersen triple and a pair of buckets from
Yaru Harvey. That scoring barrage brought the lead to NNU's largest of the half of 18 points, 27-9, at the 11:03 mark.
The Nighthawks still held a 17-point advantage, 37-20, with two minutes to play in the opening period, but the Saints were able to hit a three and a layup to cut the lead to 37-25 going into halftime.
SMU cut the lead to nine early in the second half, but a Rose triple built it back up to 13 three minutes in. NNU maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, with their largest lead of the period coming at the 11:15 mark after a Bergersen free throw put them up 15, 52-37.
Saint Martin's did not go down without a fight, chipping away over the next 10 minutes to bring the lead down to just seven, 60-53, with 1:37 to play. It would prove to be too little, too late as NNU made a few free throws and eventually earned the eight-point victory.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU wins the first GNAC Championship in program history, never reaching the title game before this year with semifinals appearances in 2011, 2015, and 2019
- The Nighthawks earn their second berth in the NCAA West Regional, joining the 2021 team that earned an at-large selection and defeated both Point Loma and Colorado Mesa to advance to the Sweet 16
- NNU is the first six-seed in GNAC Championships history to win the title
- The Nighthawks held the formidable SMU offense to just 32% shooting from the field and a paltry 23% from deep
- NNU shot 44% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc
- The Nighthawks nearly led from start to finish, going down 2-0 early but never relinquishing the lead after Bergersen's first three put NNU up 5-2
- With the win, NNU moves over .500 at 15-14 overall heading into the NCAA tournament
- In addition to Bergersen's output, NNU had two more players in double figures with Tru Allen at 11 and Rose at 10
- Rose nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds as well as two blocks
- Allen also notched seven rebounds and Kobe Terashima had six assists
- Gabe Murphy added nine points and five boards
Next Up
As mentioned, NNU will now await the NCAA DII Men's Basketball Selection Show to find out their seed, location, and opponent in next week's opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is set to air on NCAA.com on Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
