Monday, December 4, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  With two strong wins on the road, the Northwest Nazarene men’s basketball team has opened the conference slate in the best way possible and earned GNAC Team of the Week honors for good measure.

The reigning GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships title-winners opened the conference slate with a statement win over No. 6 Saint Martin’s, defeating the Saints 80-79 in overtime last Thursday. The Nighthawks followed that up with another hard-fought victory at Western Oregon on Saturday, claiming a 65-62 victory over the Wolves in Monmouth.

The pair of conference wins improved the Nighthawks’ record to 4-3 on the season and marked the first two GNAC victories for first-year head coach Jon Hawkins.

“I’m proud of the steps this group has been taking these last two weeks through a start we were not anticipating to have,” Hawkins said. “They have responded together, understanding success lies in the daily improvements.”

Senior forward Gabriel Murphy was lights-out for Northwest Nazarene in Thursday’s 2023 GNAC Championships Final rematch. Murphy led all players in the game with a career-high 24 points, including four in overtime, on 9 of 14 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free throw line and completed his second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds, inlcuding five offensive boards. The 6-foot-9 forward also played big in his own half, going up for three blocks as the NNU defense held SMU to 38.8% from the field and just 26.3% from three-point range.

Reigning GNAC Player of the Week Tru Allen also showed up in a big way for the Nighthawks in their win over nationally-ranked SMU. The 6-foot point guard from Lapwai, Idaho did a little bit of everything in the victory, finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals while playing a game-high 43 minutes.

The Nighthawks capped off the first weekend of GNAC action with a gritty defensive win over Western Oregon that saw another pair of double-digit performances for Allen and Murphy. This time it was Allen who led all players with 21 points on the night on 6 of 16 from the field and a perfect 9 for 9 from the stripe. He also notched four rebounds, five steals and two assists to complete another well-rounded performance and his third-straight 20-point game.

Murphy followed Allen with his second-straight double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and knocking down both of his attempts from the free throw line. As a team, the Nighthawks had a strong perimeter defense all game, limiting the Wolves to just 22.2% from long range and just one three-pointer in the first half.

Northwest Nazarene will join the rest of the conference in taking time off from GNAC competition until the new year. The Nighthawks will next be in action on Wednesday as they play cross-town rival College of Idaho ahead of an exhibition against Division I Utah State on Saturday.