Box Score NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene shot 54-percent from the floor and had three score in double figures as it was able to hold off Alaska 62-53 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball Saturday night at the Johnson Sports Center.
Anthony Golden and
Jonathan Hawkins paced the Crusaders (10-9, 4-7 GNAC) with 15 and 14 points, while
JB Pillard posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Hawkins also dished out a team-best six assists in the win.
NNU shot 63-percent (14-22) in the first half and finished just over 54-percent (25-46) for the game, while holding the Nanooks (4-17, 1-10 GNAC) to just under 47-percent (23-49) shooting. The Crusaders won the rebounding war 28-21 and drained nine three-pointers on 21 tries.
Alaska was led by junior
Carthal McDonald (Los Angeles, Calif./Compton CC), who scored a game and career-high 20 points on eight of 10 shooting. He also made four of the team's six treys on just five attempts (80%). Junior
Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/College of the Redwoods) contributed 12 points and five assists, while senior
Nico Matthews (Twenty Nine Palms, Calif./College of the Desert) tallied game-highs of eight assists and five steals.
Both teams had barely any free throw attempts, as Nazarene made three of four and UAF made just one of three from the stripe.
The Crusaders opened the game with a 14-2 run in the first 5:43. The lead stretched to 17 at 28-11, but the Nanooks trimmed the deficit back to 12 as NNU took a 34-22 lead into the break.
The lead grew to 20 at 46-26 with just over 15 minutes to play, but a 9-0 Alaska run cut it back to 46-35 just over four minutes later. The deficit was the same with four minutes to go and Alaska was able to get to within seven points in the final two minutes, but it wasn't enough.
Alaska returns home for the first time in nearly three weeks next Thursday against Montana State-Billings.
