NAMPA, Idaho—Surviving a strong second-half comeback from the home team, the No. 4-ranked Western Oregon University men's basketball team escaped an upset bid for its 17th straight win by defeating Northwest Nazarene, 70-67, on Thursday.
 
With the win, Western Oregon improved to 24-1 on the season and 16-1 in GNAC play. The Wolves will close out its road trip at Central Washington on Saturday, Feb. 17 before returning home for the final two games of the regular season. WOU will clinch at least a share of the GNAC regular-season title with one win over its final three games.
 
Western Oregon led for the majority of the first and for the first 10 minutes of the second half before Northwest Nazarene's (11-12, 7-10 GNAC) extended rally paid off on a Jayden Bezzant 3-pointer for a 54-53 advantage.
 
NNU built its lead to three (56-53) before JJ Chirnside sparked the Wolves on both ends of the court. After a jumper by Tanner Omlid, Chirnside connected from the top of the key to regain the WOU lead. From there, Chirnside assisted a Dustin Triano 3-pointer for a 65-61 advantage with 4:11 to play.
 
After NNU forced a tie at the 1:57 mark on a Maurice Jones 3-pointer, Chirnside collected an offensive board and was immediately fouled and sent to the line for a pair of points. The senior forward returned with a block on the defensive end that set up a Tanner Omlid jumper with 53 seconds on the clock to make it a 69-65 gap.
 
The teams traded free throws in the waning seconds. Down three (70-67) NNU retrieved the ball for a final effort but a game-tying 3-point attempt came up short and grabbed by WOU's Brendall Evans to secure the win.
 
Chirnside finished with a game-high 17 points while Omlid (16 points) and Ali Faruq-Bey (12 points) also reached double figures.

NNU forced the Wolves into 17 turnovers but thwarted their comeback run by converting 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the free throw line.
 
The Nighthawks got off to a quick start to the game as Bezzant collected five early points for a 9-2 NNU lead.
 
The Wolves retaliated with a long-distance barrage as four different Wolves hit from distance to erase the opening deficit. Over a five-minute span, Dustin Triano, Chirnside, Janvier Alaby and Faruq-Bey all connected on 3-pointers to make it a 25-14 spread in favor of the visiting side.
 
Defensively, WOU held the Nighthawks to just 26 points in the first half for an eight-point (34-26) lead at the break. The Wolves held a 12-point lead early in the second half before NNU's rally.

Obi Megwa led the Nighthawks with 16 points while Jones ended the night with a 15-point performance.