NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's basketball took on Carroll College in their Homecoming exhibition game on Saturday night, falling to the Saints 88-85.
With the game being an exhibition for both teams, the results do not count towards overall records this season.
In front of a packed Johnson Sports Center, the Nighthawks got out to a great start with
Michael Day hitting back-to-back threes to open the game and make it 6-3 after three minutes.
Carroll tied the game up at 13-13 with 10 minutes to go in the opening half. NNU went on a 14-3 run over the next six minutes, though, as a layup from
Garrett Hawkes made it 27-16 Nighthawks with 4:25 to go.
NNU went into halftime with a nine-point advantage at 33-24. The Saints immediately erased that deficit, however, going on a 13-2 run to open the second half and take a 37-35 lead at the 16:06 mark.
The teams went back and forth for much of the rest of the game, until Carroll started to pull away and took a nine-point lead, 71-62, with 4:55 to play.
The Nighthawks made a valiant effort at a late comeback, cutting the deficit to two at 80-78 with 42 seconds left, but the Saints were a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line in the final minute to hold on for the victory.
Easton Reagan led NNU's efforts with 18 points and five boards.
Kyelin King had 16 points and eight rebounds, while
Michael Day also narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and eight boards.
Jaden Byers had 13 points and
Parker Martens was also in double figures with 12.
Briggs Ranstrom had five assists.
The Nighthawks have another exhibition game coming up next Wednesday, when they make the short drive over to Caldwell for the first round of the annual Mayors' Cup rivalry against College of Idaho. Tip off is set for 7:07 p.m. in C of I's Albertson Activities Center.
