Monday, February 6, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – Northwest Nazarene swept the Alaksa road trip last week to take fourth place in the conference standings and earn GNAC Team of the Week honors.

The Nighthawks opened the week with a hard-fought 74-71 victory over Alaska Anchorage on Thursday. After falling behind by five points in the first frame, NNU came firing back with a 10-4 run to close the half and took a 40-39 lead into halftime. Another strong effort by the Seawolves reclaimed the lead early in the second half, but the Nighthawks responded yet again and took the lead for the final time with 5:41 left to play.

Senior point guard Kobe Terashima led the charge for NNU with a nearly perfect performance. Terashima knocked down 18 points while shooting 6 for 6 from the field, 2 for 2 from three-point range and 4 for 6 from the free-throw line and pulled down six rebounds.

Terashima was one of four Nighthawks to score in the double-digits on Thursday, followed by forwards Gabriel Murphy and Aaron Murphy with 14 points. Gabriel Murphy went 6 for 9 from the field and added seven rebounds while Aaron Murphy shot 7 for 10 from the field. Sophomore forward Christian Rose rounded out the quartet with 10 points on 3 for 5 from the field and 4 for 8 from the free-throw line while pulling in seven boards.

Northwest Nazarene took a relatively comfortable win on Saturday over the Nanooks with a 69-54 decision in Fairbanks. Another balanced scoring effort by NNU saw four players in the double-digits for the second game in a row led by sophomore point guard Tru Allen with 12 points. Allen added a rebound and a steal while shooting 4 for 11 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line.

Allen was joined in double digits by sophomore guard Timothy TenKley with 11 points, going 5 for 8 from the field with four rebounds and a steal. Sophomore guards Yaru Harvey and Terashima both finished with 10 points.

The wins mark just the second time in program history that the Nighthawks have swept the Alaska road trip, with the last time coming almost exactly 18 years ago in the 2004-05 season. After moving into fourth place in the GNAC standings, NNU ranks second in the conference allowing only 66.1 points per game and earning 8.1 steals per contest. The Nighthawks also rank third in the GNAC with a .426 opponent field goal percentage.

“I have been really impressed with our players' approach the last couple of weeks,” Head coach Paul Rush said. “Their unselfishness on the offensive end and discipline and toughness on the defensive end has been fun to watch.”

Northwest Nazarene will close out a three-game road trip on Saturday against Central Washington in its only game of the week.