BILLINGS, Mont. - Northwest Nazarene men's basketball notched an impressive victory on the road Thursday night, taking down GNAC-leading Montana State Billings 70-65.
 
The Nighthawks improve to 11-7 overall on the season and 7-3 in GNAC play, keeping hold of at least third in the conference standings pending Central Washington's result later tonight, who entered the day tied with NNU.
 
With just their second conference loss, MSUB fell to 8-2 in the GNAC and 14-6 overall.
 
MSUB got off to a great start on their home court, opening the game with a 20-10 run over the first six minutes. The Nighthawks responded with a run of their own, however, scoring 12 of the next 14 points to even the score at 22 apiece on a jumper from Gabriel Murphy with just under eight minutes to go in the opening half.
 
The two teams would trade buckets over the remainder of the half, with NNU repeatedly tying the game but not able to take a lead. Easton Reagan tied it at 31 with 45 seconds to go, but MSUB's Jalen Tot nailed a triple on the next possession. Tru Allen hit a jumper with five seconds left, but once again it was Tot with the big shot, drilling a deep three as the buzzer sounded to make it 37-33 in favor of the Yellowjackets at halftime.
 
MSUB led by as many as eight early in the second half and would go up 48-41 at the 15:11 mark. The Nighthawks then caught fire, scoring 14 unanswered points to take a seven-point lead at 55-48 with 10:25 to play. Nathan Perez had four of the 14 points and Ryzin Bergersen had five, including a deep triple to cap the run.
 
The game slowed down after that, with NNU maintaining a lead and eventually bringing it back up to seven at 61-54 on a Gabe Murphy jumper with just under four minutes remaining. MSUB kept battling, as Jalen Tot hit another two triples sandwiched around a layup from Aaron Murphy to cut the deficit to just three, 63-60, with 2:39 to go.
 
After nearly two minutes with no scoring, another layup from Aaron Murphy pushed the lead back to five with 41 seconds to play. Once again, however, it was Jalen Tot who made a huge play for MSUB, nailing a triple with a foul to earn the chance for a four-point play. Tot missed the ensuing free throw, though, to keep the NNU lead at 65-63.
 
Aaron Murphy came up clutch with a pair of free throws on the next possession, and after a MSUB layup, Perez made one of two at the line to make it 68-65 with 21 seconds left. After a Yellowjacket three-point attempt clanged off the rim, Biggie Bergersen extended the lead to four with a free throw and just eight ticks remaining on the clock.
 
Another MSUB triple went wayward and Christian Rose added another free throw before the final horn to send the Nighthawks to the 70-65 victory.
 
NNU shot an impressive 57% from the field, including 70% from inside the arc. The Nighthawks' scoring was extremely balanced, with seven players scoring between 8 and 13 points.
 
Biggie Bergersen led the way with 13 points. The Murphy brothers were also in double digits, with Aaron registering 12 points and Gabe notching 11 along with six rebounds.
 
Perez and Easton Reagan both finished with nine points, followed by Rose and Tru Allen with eight apiece. MSUB's Jalen Tot finished with a game-high 29, including 6-9 from deep.
 
NNU will now make the trek over to Seattle to take on Seattle Pacific at 2:00 PM Pacific on Saturday.
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