NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball continued their red-hot start to the season with an 85-78 overtime victory over Central Washington on Saturday.
With their seventh-straight win, the Nighthawks improve to 10-1 on the year and a perfect 3-0 in GNAC play. The 10-1 mark equals NNU's best start to a season in the program's NCAA era, with the 2020-21 squad also opening 10-1.
NNU and CWU both came out strong, handing the lead back and forth over the first 10 minutes.
The Wildcats went up two, 18-16, with 8:39 to play in the opening half, but the Nighthawks then were able to go on a quick 9-0 run with triples from Biggie Bergersen,
Briggs Ranstrom, and
Sullivan Menard to take a 25-18 lead at the 6:11 mark.
Central clawed their way back to tie things at 29 just before the break, but another three from Bergersen in the final minute sent NNU to the locker room with a 32-29 advantage.
CWU quickly took the lead in the second half with four points, and the teams would be as close as could be over the next 10 minutes. Before the Wildcats took a 58-57 lead with 8:02 to play, the lead changed hands 11 times in the second half and neither team led by more than three points.
CWU would hit two more shots after that, though, taking their largest lead of the game at 63-57 with 6:22 remaining. NNU erased that deficit in just over a minute, however, as Menard drained a triple and teamed up with
Kye Dickson for a pair of layups that knotted the score at 64-64 at the 5:12 mark.
NNU could not take back the lead, however, and CWU went back up by three with just 1:37 to play. NNU had a chance to win in regulation, down one with two free throws coming in the final seconds, but Menard went 1-2 from the line to send the game to overtime.
Menard redeemed himself with a pair of free throws to start the extra period, but CWU answered with a triple to take the lead. That was the last lead the Wildcats would hold, though, as NNU responded with a 7-0 run that included a big triple and layup from Ranstrom.
The Nighthawks were able to use ride that advantage to victory, converting free throws down the stretch to achieve the final score of 85-78.
There were 21 total lead changes in the game, with neither team going up by double digits at any point. Ball security was key for the Nighthawks as they only committed nine turnovers while forcing 15 by Central.
Ranstrom notched a career-high with 22 points while adding seven rebounds and four steals. Biggie Bergersen tallied 21 points and seven boards, going 4-7 from deep.
Kye Dickson added a double-double of 17 points and 13 boards, while
Sullivan Menard chipped in 15 points.
The Nighthawks will now face their first GNAC road tests next week, traveling to the Last Frontier to take on Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Jan. 9 and Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Jan. 11.
