HAYWARD, Calif. – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team got the shots they wanted Friday, but they weren't falling consistently enough to lead to victory.
The Nighthawks lost 76-61 to Point Loma Nazarene in the first round of the NCAA West Regional hosted by Cal State-East Bay.
Coming in, NNU coach Jon Hawkins and his staff knew they would need to make outside shots to try and free up the paint against the Sea Lions defense.
Despite getting the looks they wanted, shots weren't falling, as NNU made just 4-of-20 3-pointers.
"They really clogged the paint and we just couldn't get high percentage shots at the rim," Hawkins said. "We needed to make some inside-out 3-pointers … we had great looks."
NNU (18-11 overall) did score 42 points in the paint and out-rebounded the Sea Lions 39-37, but the 3-point shooting and defensive lapses were too much to overcome.
"We had five mental lapses throughout the game and when you are playing great times they will punish you," Hawkins said. "In the first half, we didn't compete very well. We competed way harder in the second half."
Point Loma (26-5) led by 10 going into halftime and every time the Nighthawks managed to get the deficit under 10, the Sea Lions responded quickly.
"We allowed the guys to shoot (for Point Loma) that we wanted to shoot," Hawkins said. "Caden Harris made some tough shots for them down the stretch and we didn't have an answer for him."
Jayden Byers scored a team-high 13 points to lead the Nighthawks, while Garrett Hawkes added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Briggs Ranstrom added nine points, five rebounds and four assists, Easton Reagan had nine points and six rebounds, and Kyelin King had eight points and four rebounds.
Andrew Nagy had a game-high 22 points to lead Point Loma.
While the game didn't go their way Friday, Hawkins thinks the program is headed in the right direction.
This was the third time in four years NNU men's basketball has reached the national tournament and the first time in the school's NCAA history they went back-to-back years.
"Going back-to-back is huge," Hawkins said. "I feel really good about that. We always talk about how we want to be a program that is making the tournament every year – not every other year. The next step is going far, not just making it.
"We know we are going to be fighting for regular-season titles and tournament titles. It is time to make runs and I feel good about where the program is now to make those runs."
