Wednesday, March 24, 2021

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After leading Northwest Nazarene to an impressive run to the NCAA Division II West Regional championship game, Nighthawks’ senior guard Ezekiel Alley has been named to the All-West Region Second Team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

After excelling in a sixth-man role during the 2019-20 season, Alley moved into the starting lineup and made an even bigger impact during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 campaign. He led all GNAC players with an average of 19.9 points per game and a .450 three-point percentage. He made 2.5 three-pointers per game while averaging 3.4 rebounds and three assists per game. Among Division II players, Alley ranked 18th in three-point percentage and finished 48th in scoring.

Of the nine GNAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week awards presented during the season, Alley was the winner five times.

In his 18 games, Alley scored in double figures in all but one of them. His season-high came in the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional on March 13 where he scored 30 points on 9 of 18 from the field, 6 of 9 from three-point range and 6 of 6 from the free throw line to lead the Nighthawks’ to a 74-54 upset of No. 1 ranked Colorado Mesa.

Alley led Northwest Nazarene to a 13-5 overall record and the program’s first-ever berth in the Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship. Selected as the No. 5 seed, the Nighthawks posted wins over Point Loma and Colorado Mesa before falling to host Colorado Mines in the regional championship game.

Alley is Northwest Nazarene’s first All-West Region selection since 2019. That year, Adonis Arms was named to the D2CCA and NABC first teams while Obi Megwa was named a second-team selection by both the NABC and D2CCA.