Icy Second Half Dooms Wolves at NNU

Western Oregon will hit the road next week for just one game, a Saturday encounter at Saint Martin's.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

NAMPA, Idaho - Northwest Nazarene opened the second half on an 18-0 run, breaking open a tight men's basketball game and then cruising to a 84-58 win over Western Oregon on Saturday afternoon in Nampa.

The victory improved the Crusaders' record to 13-3 on the season and to 6-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western Oregon dropped to 9-8 overall and to 2-6 in the GNAC.

Justin Parnell led the hosts wtih 14 points and he also had six assists. Kendall Gielow added 13. The Wolves had just one player in double digits as Travis Kuhns led his team with 12 points.

Western Oregon shot just 41 percent from the field and were out-rebounded for the first time this season, 38-35. Meanwhile, NNU nailed 12 of 27 three-point attempts and were also a perfect 20-20 from the free throw line.

The Wolves led early in the contest , 17-9 on a pair of free throws by Brad Krichevsky about six minutes into the game. But the Crusaders went on a 9-0 run to even things up, and managed to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room at the break.

NNU then kept the Wolves off the scoreboard for the first 6:47 of the second half, running off 18 consecutive points before Kuhns hit a three-pointer. In all, NNU's run was 23-0 counting the final five points that they scored before intermission.

Northwest Nazarene outscored the Wolves 42-21 in the second half as former WOU coach (now NNU leader) Tim Hills moved to 5-0 against Western since leaving after the 2005 season.

Western Oregon will hit the road next week for just one game, a Saturday encounter at Saint Martin's.

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