NAMPA, Idaho – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team put together a late second half surge on the road against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday night. However, it wasn't enough as the Falcons fell to the Nighthawks 67-55.
"NNU is a tough place to play," head coach Keffrey Fazio said. They are a very physical team. We knew it would be low-scoring. Ultimately, we had too many turnovers in low possession game."
The Falcons and the Nighthawks struggled offensively in the first half. SPU went 6-for-24 (25 percent) from the field in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Falcons scored from the free throw line, making all five attempts.
While the SPU offense struggled, its defense kept them in the game. The Nighthawks made just nine shots in the first half. The Falcons led 18-13 with 2:33 left in the first half. NNU burst into halftime with an 11-0 run that gave them a 24-18 lead at the break.
The Falcons turned it around offensively in the second half. They shot 52.4 percent from the field and went 13-for-14 from the free throw line.
SPU made its run with 12:39 left to play. They outscored the Nighthawks 15-4 over 5:09 to cut the deficit to three. Owen Moriarty was fantastic during this stretch, scoring 10 points. Nikias Schoenerstedt splashed home a 3-pointer, and Jaxon Nap got to the basket for a layup to make up the Falcon's scoring.
"I'm proud of our fight," Fazio said. "We had some bad spots but hung around. We needed to find a way to get over the hump. I thought our guys stuck to the game plan pretty well."
Moriarty led SPU with 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting. He was perfect from the free throw line, sinking all eight of his attempts. It was the eighth time this season that Moriarty has made every free throw he's attempted in a game.
Mason Landdeck and Nap poured in eight points each. Like Moriarty, Landdeck shot it well from the free throw line. He went 4-for-4 against the Nighthawks. Nap added a team-high eight rebounds to go with his eight points. Henry Sandberg had a strong night on the glass, grabbing a single-game career-best seven rebounds.
The Falcons return to Seattle to host two games inside Royal Brougham Pavilion next week. SPU takes on Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5:15 p.m. before playing Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 4:15 p.m.
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