• FINAL STATS   |   • PHOTO GALLERY

SEATTLE – Adonis Arms scored 11 of his game-high 32 points inside the final five minutes Thursday, lifting undefeated Northwest Nazarene to an 87-86 men's basketball win over Seattle Pacific in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Brougham Pavilion.
 
SPU (2-3) sustained a third loss in a row and suffered its second straight setback against the Nighthawks in a league-opening contest.
 
NNU (6-0) was a 103-91 victor in last season's initial GNAC game, played in Nampa, Idaho.
 
The Falcons lost Thursday despite having five players compile double-figure points, led by 18 from Nikhil Lizotte and a career-high 17 from Sam Simpson. Harry Cavell added 15 points, Gavin Long had 14 and Nathan Streufert 10.
 
"We are capable of that," third-year coach Grant Leep said of SPU's balanced attack. "That's something that we really stress to our guys, to keep moving the ball because we have a lot of good players on this team."
 
Just two other SPU players scored. Freshman Divant'e Moffitt nearly joined the double-digit crew, with nine points, and Sharif Khan swished a long 3-pointer at the final buzzer from just inside the halfcourt line to set the final score.
 
A 6-foot-6 junior guard, Arms hit 10 of 16 shots from the field and made 4 of his 8 treys. He converted 8 of 9 free throws. Arms transferred from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College prior to this season.
 
"He's a really good player. He gets to the rim and finishes really well," said Leep. "He got going early on from the arc tonight and he kept going."
 
Obi Megwa contributed 18 points for the Nighthawks, who also got 14 from Jayden Bezzant and 13 from Adalberto Diaz.
 
NNU shot 55 percent from the field (30 of 55) and hit 6 of 14 shots from 3-point range to counter the Falcons 47-percent accuracy (33 of 70). SPU made 10 of 24 treys.
 
"They did a great job of spacing us out and making some plays," Leep explained. "We need to be better on ball-screen coverages. When you allow teams to shoot 55 percent from the floor, 43 from the three, it's really tough to win games. We didn't do things well enough defensively to give us a little bit more margin for error on the other end.
 
"We've been at points struggling to take care of the ball and we need to do a better job there too. Also, the way that we like to keep the ball moving, only 12 assists on 30 baskets just isn't enough."
 
Back-to-back baskets by Arms and Megwa produced a 46-44 NNU edge four minutes into the second half.
 
The Falcons responded with nine unanswered points to reclaim the lead, at 53-46. Cavell capped the run on a 3-pointer with 13:53 left to play.
 
SPU sustained that lead for over 10 minutes before the Nighthawks decisive late charge.
 
"The ball was moving and we took care of the ball," Leep pointed out as keys to the second-half success.
 
"But the biggest thing is we got stops, we did a good job on defense. We kept the ball out of the paint, forced them into more contested shots and they gave it back to us a couple times. When you are getting stops it's just so much easier to push in transition and get teams on the defensive."
 
Trailing 72-65, NNU reeled off 12 consecutive points to surge into a 77-72 lead with 2:19 remaining. Arms netted six straight points during that run, including the tying and go-ahead baskets.
 
The Nighthawks were perfect on six free throw tries in the final 45 seconds to secure the result.
 
SPU drained a trio of 3-pointers inside the final 20 seconds, getting back-to-back bombs from Lizotte and Simpson.
 
With 2.8 seconds showing on the clock Simpson finished a driving layup to cut the deficit to four points, but Khan's subsequent steal and trey left the Falcons comeback one point short.
 
In the first half, the visitors led 12-10 before SPU staged a nine-point run. Lizotte concluded that stretch with a fall-away jumper at 11:47 to provide a 19-12 advantage.
 
The Nighthawks netted the next seven points to level the score, 17-17.
 
The lead changed hands eight more times before intermission. The Falcons closed the half with a 9-3 spree, including the final five points of the period.
 
Lizotte nailed a 3-pointer and, on the ensuing NNU possession, Simpson got a steal and fastbreak layup with 27.3 seconds showing on the clock. That 38-37 score line held into halftime.
 
The Nighthawks trailed despite shooting 56 percent (14 of 25) during the opening 20 minutes, including 6-for-9 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
The Falcons countered with 44-percent shooting (15 of 34), 4-for-11 on treys while parlaying nine NNU first-half turnovers into nine points.
 
Seattle Pacific hosts Central Washington on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Falcons women. After that, the men don't play another conference game until Jan. 3 when they visit Western Washington.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Northwest Nazarene 87, at Seattle Pacific 86
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (6-0, 1-0 GNAC)
Diaz 4-6 4-6 13, Arms 10-16 8-9 32, Adetunji 1-2 0-0 2, Megwa 7-15 4-5 18, Bezzant 5-7 3-7 14, Burkett 2-4 0-0 4, Nelson 1-4 2-3 4, Roth 0-1 0-0 0, White 0-0 0-0 0, Furgerson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 21-30 87.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-3, 0-1 GNAC)
Wooten 0-4 0-0 0, Long 5-9 3-3 14, Streufert 5-8 0-2 10, Cavell 6-13 2-4 15, Lizotte 6-14 2-3 18, Simpson 6-10 2-2 17, Moffitt 4-8 1-1 9, Khan 1-4 0-0 3, Boone 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-70 10-15 86.
 
Northwest Nazarene......37...50..--..87
Seattle Pacific.........38...48..--..86
 
3-point goals--NNU 6-14 (Arms 4-8, Bezzant 1-2, Diaz 1-1, Nelson 0-1, Roth 0-1, Burkett 0-1), SPU 10-24 (Lizotte 4-9, Simpson 3-6, Long 1-2, Cavell 1-2, Khan 1-3, Wooten 0-1, Moffitt 0-1). Fouled out--NNU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--NNU 35 (Arms 8), SPU 37 (Streufert 7). Assists--NNU 7 (Arms 4), SPU 12 (Simpson 4). Total fouls--NNU 19, SPU 21. Technical fouls--NNU-White, SPU-None. A-339.
 
 
Next SPU Men's Basketball Game
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.