NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball took advantage of a 16-2 second-half run and held on late to knock off Western Washington 75-74 in the GNAC opener on Thursday night.
The Nighthawks improve to 5-1 on the year and hand the Vikings just their second loss of the season, as WWU falls to 6-2.
Western Washington's offense was clicking in the first half, and it was all the Nighthawks could do to keep up with the Vikings.
WWU led by as much as eight in the opening period, 39-31 with 3:56 to go. The Nighthawks clawed back, though, to cut the deficit to four, 44-40, at the break.
The Vikings went on a run early in the second half to push their lead to nine, 54-45, at the 16:12 mark.
NNU still trailed by six with just under 12 minutes to go, but the Nighthawks then scored 12 unanswered over the next four minutes as part of a 16-2 run.
Briggs Ranstrom ignited the offense with his first triple of the season, followed by three buckets from
Zane Foster,
Easton Reagan, and
Yaru Harvey. Reagan then put NNU up 64-58 with a triple at the 7:36 mark.
WWU stopped their scoreless drought with a dunk, but NNU followed that with four more points on a Harvey free throw and another three-pointer from Reagan.
The Vikings did not go away, though, rallying to cut the NNU lead down to one, 72-71, with 1:16 to play. Biggie Bergersen stepped up with a big three with 41 seconds remaining, but WWU answered with a triple of their own with 28 seconds to go.
The Vikings had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, but a pair of jumpers were off the mark as the Nighthawks held on for the one-point victory.
Reagan led NNU with a career-high 18 points, going 6-10 from the floor and 3-4 from deep while adding three free throws.
Kye Dickson registered 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks, while Ranstrom was also in double figures with 10 points and five boards. Harvey added seven assists to go with nine points.
NNU will continue conference play this Saturday, Dec. 7, hosting Simon Fraser for a rare afternoon tip-off at 2:00 p.m. in the Johnson Sports Center.
