NAMPA, Idaho – An early second half run pulled Northwest Nazarene out of a halftime deficit to complete a comeback victory over the Saints 92-to-86 on Friday night.
 
The Saints (1-7) featured a three point attack with Alex Schumacher leading the way with 21 points in 26 minutes. Demonte Malloy and Ty Velasquez both came off the bench with 19 points, as the three combined for a majority of the Saints' points. Northwest Nazarene (9-1) defended their home court with a 27-to-7 run to open the second half, and fight off the Saints'.
 
Northwest Nazarene jumped out to an early 9-to-2 lead before the Saints' offense began to connect. Behind 3-pointers from Goy Wang, and Seth Coddington, the Saints managed to tie the game, and take their first lead of the game at 17-to-15 on a Velasquez jumper.
 
Both sides traded leads throughout most of the first half until the Saints got hot from beyond the arc. Four different Saints combined for five 3-pointers in the final eight minutes to pull away from the Nighthawks. The Saints lead grew to as many as seven on multiple occasions, and held a 49-to-43 edge at halftime.
 
Northwest Nazarene quickly responded in the second half, turning a six point deficit into a five point lead within three minutes. The Nighthawks never looked back as their lead held throughout the rest of the game.
 
Saint Martin's gave the Nighthawks a scare late in the game, cutting the lead down to as a little as four with just 1:30 left. However, a key jumper, and 6-for-6 at the line down the stretch was enough for Northwest Nazarene to secure their ninth victory of the year.
 
Saint Martin's shot 28-for-66 (42.4 percent) from the field, 12-for-29 (41.4 percent) beyond the arc, and 18-for-25 (72.0 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints were out rebounded 45-to-35 while collecting 12 assists on 11 turnovers, nine steals and one block.
 
The Saints and Nighthawks conclude the season series tomorrow, Saturday February 20 at 2:00 PM. Live stats and streaming will be available on smusaints.com.