BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team lost 87-75 on Thursday to Alaska Fairbanks in the GNAC Basketball Championships at Western Washington University.
The Nighthawks pulled within 63-61 with 5 minutes, 37 seconds remaining on a layup by Easton Reagan, but the Nanooks went on a 13-4 run to put the game out of reach.
"For some reason, we did not come out with good energy," NNU coach Jon Hawkins said. "They hurt our offensive rhythm and we allowed that to dictate the game. Our program has hung its hat on getting stops and tonight, we couldn't get them."
Despite the loss, the Nighthawks (18-10 overall) still have a shot at the NCAA Division II national tournament. NNU was ranked sixth in the most recent regional poll and the top eight teams advance to nationals. The field will be announced Sunday.
"I pretty much told the guys that while it is out of our control, it is not over and we have to continue to find the opportunities to grow and be the best version of ourselves," Hawkins said. "We have yet to put together a 40-minute game this season – we haven't arrived at our full potential – but next week we can come back and continue to figure out how to put 40 minutes together and how to grow."
In the loss Thursday, Nighthawks starting center Michael Day rolled his ankle, and while he tried to play through it, the injury limited his effectiveness. Combined with Aaron Murphy's injury coming into the game and the Nighthawks were limited in their depth in the middle, which allowed Fairbanks (15-13) to have its best shooting night in the three matchups this season.
The Nanooks shot 50.8 percent from the field (30-of-59) after shooting under 40 percent in the previous two meetings.
"It is hard beating a college basketball team three times," Hawkins said. "They had a good gameplan and we couldn't figure out how to respond on the defensive end and get stops. Kudos to them. They made us pay."
Reagan finished with a game-high 27 points, while Kyelin King scored 14 off the bench. Jaden Byers added 13 points and three assists, while Garrett Hawkes had eight points and five rebounds. Briggs Ranstrom had six points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
If this is the end of the season for the Nighthawks, Hawkins is still proud of his group.
"We maximized our talent and we utilized our strengths," the third-year head coach said.
Now, Hawkins and his squad hope they get at least one more chance to showcase that talent.
