The Basics

• Final Score: Western Oregon 69, Northwest Nazarene 67
• Records: Western Oregon 10-9, 7-4 GNAC; Northwest Nazarene 8-9, 5-6 GNAC
• Location: Nampa, Idaho – Johnson Sports Center

 
How It Happened
Junior guard Ali Faruq-Bey drove traffic in the closing seconds of Thursday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference and hit a layup with three seconds remaining to push Western Oregon past Northwest Nazarene, 69-67, at the Johnson Sports Center.
 
The Wolves led by as many as 12 points (24-12) in the first half, courtesy of an opening 8-0 run and came back from as many as eight points down in the second half after the Crusaders went on a 17-2 run over 9:15.
 
Western Oregon dominated the opening 10 minutes of the game. Akil Reese sparked the opening rally with a 3-point basket. A steal from Tanner Omlid led to a fast break layup from Evan Garrison while Garrison's theft led to a transition 3-pointer from Faruq-Bey. A triple from JJ Chirnside pushed the led to 10 (16-6) just three minutes in.
 
Midway through the half, an offensive rebound led to a short jumper from Connor Thompson regained a double-digit advantage. But the Crusader had an answer – an 8-0 run bringing them within three. Moments later, a traditional three-point play from Marko Lepovic gave NNU their first lead at 33-32.
 
The Wolves closed out the final 2:38 with a Bryan Berg jumper and a lay-in by Faruq-Bey for a 36-33 lead at intermission.
 
WOU wound up shooting 46 percent (15-of-32) from the field in the opening half, while the Crusaders finished at 50 percent (13-of-26). Both teams were 4-of-10 from behind the arc. Faruq-Bey led all scorers after 20 minutes with 14 points. Jayden bezant counters for NNU with 11 first-half points.
 
Garrison hit a layup nearly four minutes into the second half, giving the Wolves a 45-38 lead. But the offense went cold for over nine minutes, making just one of 15 overall attempts and turning the ball over three times. Northwest Nazarene capitalized from all over the court to take a 55-47 advantage.
 
Leaks ended the big surge with a triple from the corner and added another bomb two trips down the floor later to trim the lead down to two points, 57-55.
 
From that point, the Crusaders held a slim advantage until Omlid hit a bucket with 2:13 on the clock. A quick 3-point try from Buona N'Diaye missed and gave the ball back to the Wolves. Following a quick timeout, Trammell was fouled in the act of shooting from deep and made two of three shots from the stripe to give the Wolves the lead.
 
The Crusaders would bring the game even on two more occasions before it became Faruq-Bey's time to shine. Seven seconds after NNU tied things up with a pair of Kaileb Rodriguez free throws, Faruq-Bey showed no fear going into the pain and kissing the eventual game-winner off the glass. N'Diaye traveled just inside the half-court stripe to seal the Wolves' victory.
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• Ali Faruq-Bey led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. He added five rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes.
• Tanner Omlid did just about everything for WOU. He closed with 13 points adding nine rebounds, six assists, six steals and three blocked shots in a career-high tying 38 minutes.  
• Malik Leaks had all eight of his points in the second half.

 
For the Crusaders

• Jayden Bezzant went 6-of-11 for the night to lead NNU with 16 points.
• Buona N'Diaye played all 40 minutes scoring 12 points but had six turnovers.
• Kaileb Rodriguez fell shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

 
Stats of the Game

• The Wolves were more opportunistic after turnovers. WOU scored 18 points off 20 NNU giveaways while the Crusaders scored just nine points after coercing 10 Western Oregon turnovers.
• Western Oregon went to the foul line just five times in the first half, but took advantage of 11 trips in the final 20 minutes. The Wolves were 9-of 11 (81 percent) in the final half.  

Up Next
Western Oregon heads to Ellensburg for its second meeting of the year with Central Washington. The game is Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion. The Wildcats were defeated by Concordia on Thursday, 95-90.