BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Northwest Nazarene men's basketball led for most of the game, but Western Washington went on a late run to overtake the Nighthawks and win 74-64.
 
The Nighthawks fall to 14-9 overall on the season and 10-5 in GNAC play.
 
Ryzin Bergersen opened the scoring with a triple on NNU's first possession, sparking an early 9-2 run by the Nighthawks over the first 2:15.
 
NNU still led by seven at 16-9 at the 14:16 mark, but WWU went on a 7-0 run to even the score at 16 with 11:39 remaining in the opening half. NNU bounced back with five points on an Aaron Murphy layup and Tru Allen three-pointer and would lead the rest of the period, going into the break up 33-31.
 
Allen started the second half with a bucket and NNU would hold a lead of about three to seven points for the first nine minutes of the half. The Nighthawks finally pushed the lead to eight with a long three from Ryzin Bergersen that made it 50-42 with 10:28 to play.
 
NNU could not extend the advantage to double-digits, though, and the Vikings responded with a 15-7 run to tie the game at 57-57 with 3:19 remaining. On their next possession, WWU took their first lead of the game on a triple with 2:41 to go.
 
The momentum had fully swung the Vikings' way, and they couldn't miss down the stretch and pulled away for a 74-64 win.
 
Bergersen led the Nighthawks with 18 points, while Allen and Aaron Murphy each had 14. Allen added six assists, and Murphy just missed a double-double with eight rebounds.
 
Gabriel Murphy was also close to a double-double with seven points and nine boards.
 
NNU will now make the short trip north across the border to take on Simon Fraser on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Pacific.
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