by Josh Burkholder
NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men’s basketball came out on top in a hard-fought, emotional battle over Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night, holding on for an 80-74 victory
The Nighthawks improve to 12-8 overall on the season and 8-4 in GNAC play.
Both teams started slow, with neither hitting double digits until Alaska Anchorage went up 10-7 at the 12:33 mark.
NNU trailed 15-14 with 10:16 to play, but back-to-back triples from Nathan Perez and Ryzin Bergersen and a pair of free throws from Tru Allen sparked a 7-0 run that put the Nighthawks up 22-15.
NNU led by as much as eight on another Perez three, making it 25-17 with eight minutes to play in the half. UAA chipped away at the lead towards the end of the half, cutting it to four, but NNU fought back to go into the break up six, 39-33.
The Seawolves started chipping away in the second half, tying the game at 50 and taking a short lead for a minute before a pair of Bergersen free throws put NNU back up 53-52 with 11:08 remaining. Those free throws started a 9-0 Nighthawks run, with an emphatic slam from Gabriel Murphy making it 59-52 NNU at the 9:15 mark.
NNU kept the margin around there for most of the rest of the game, still leading by nine, 68-59, with four minutes to go. UAA made some tough shots in the final minutes and cut the lead down to three, 74-71, with 38 seconds to play, but six more free throws solidified the win for the Nighthawks.
A staggering 56 fouls were called in the game, with 31 on Alaska Anchorage and 25 on NNU. The Nighthawks took advantage with 30 made free throws on 40 attempts. NNU also outrebounded UAA 31-20.
Gabe Murphy led the Nighthawks with 21 points and seven rebounds, going 6-8 from the floor and 9-13 from the free throw line. Tru Allen added 20 points, five boards, four assists, and three steals in a great all-around effort.
Bergersen was the other Nighthawk in double figures with 11, with eight coming at the charity stripe along with one three-pointer. NNU took just seven triples in the game, making four of them.
