ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball earned a big road victory at Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night, pulling away late in the second half for a 71-63 win.
The Nighthawks are now off to the best start to a season in program history at 11-1 through their first 12 games. NNU is also a perfect 4-0 in GNAC play, tied with Saint Martin's as the only unbeaten squads in conference action.
Northwest Nazarene had previously started a season 10-1 twice, first in 1996-97 and again four years ago in the 2020-21 campaign.
Receiving votes in each of the last two NABC Top 25 Coaches Polls, the Nighthawks have also now won eight games in a row.
Kye Dickson got the scoring started with a triple on NNU's first possession, but UAA responded with six unanswered to take an early lead.
With just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half and NNU holding an 18-17 advantage, the Nighthawks went on a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the period.
Zane Foster had four of the seven points as NNU went up 25-17 with 6:35 to go.
The Seawolves cut the deficit to just two heading into halftime, though, with the Nighthawks holding a 33-31 advantage at the break.
UAA scored on their opening possession of the second half to tie the game and would take a 36-35 lead moments later after a triple.
The Seawolves still led 49-48 with 12:19 to play, but
Sullivan Menard put the Nighthawks back on top with a jumper that ignited a 9-2 run. Menard capped the run as well, drilling a deep three at the 8:27 mark to make it 57-51 NNU.
Five minutes later, a pair of
Yaru Harvey free throws gave the Nighthawks their largest lead of the game of 10 at 68-58. NNU held on from there, securing the eight-point win.
Returning to his home state for the first time in his collegiate career,
Sullivan Menard made the most of it with 19 points. The Wasilla native went 3-5 from deep and 8-11 from the free throw line.
Yaru Harvey led the Nighthawks with 20 points, also excelling from the charity stripe with an 8-10 mark and adding three steals.
Kye Dickson added 14 points and seven rebounds, while
Zane Foster had eight points, eight boards, and three blocks in a season-high 32 minutes of action.
NNU will now head further north to take on Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Alaska/5:15 p.m. Mountain.
