Jan. 22, 2011
Box Score
NAMPA, Id. - Guard Jamie Eisinger scored on a driving lay-in with 3.6 seconds left in overtime, lifting Northwest Nazarene University to an 88-86 victory over Western Washington University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday at Johnson Sports Center.
The Vikings suffered their second straight loss despite getting a game-high 29 points from forward Michael Duty (So., Seattle/O'Dea), including all nine of their points in overtime and 26 after halftime. Western slipped to 10-6 overall and 5-3 in the GNAC.
NNU improved to 8-8 overall and 4-5 in the GNAC. Forward Paul Egwuonwu scored 22 points for the Crusaders and center Brian Barkdoll added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds, helping NNU to a 35-18 edge on the boards.
The Vikings held a nine-point lead, 75-66, with less than five minutes to play, and were still up by four, 79-75, in the final minute, but baskets by Egwuonwu and Drew Eisinger tied the score. Western had a chance to win in the final seconds, but guard John Allen (So., Brier/Mountlake Terrace) missed from 15 feet, sending the contest to overtime.
Western opened the extra period with two free throws by Duty, but never led again. Three times Duty scored to tie the game, the final time on two free throws with 18 seconds left, but Jamie Eisinger then hit the game-winner at the other end and Allen was unable to convert a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
Guard Zach Henifin (Jr., Bellingham) had 17 points for the Vikings, forward Rory Blanche (Jr., Ashland, OR) 14 and center Chris Mitchell (So., Everson/Nooksack Valley) 14 each, and Allen 10. Western shot 55.6 percent (30-of-54) from the field, and hit 18-of-21 free throws (85.7 percent).
Drew Eisinger had 17 points for the Crusaders, who shot 61.0 percent (36-of-59) from the field. Jamie Eisinger and Darious Walker each had 12 points.
Western trailed by six, 42-36, at halftime, but used an 11-2 run early in the second half to take a 53-48 lead with 14 minutes left, and did not trail again until overtime.
It was the 750th game for Western coach Brad Jackson (26th year, 481-269)
The victory was NNU's first in the last eight meetings between the schools, and it was the third game in the last five to go to overtime.
The Vikings are at Seattle Pacific University on Wednesday (7 p.m.) in a GNAC counter that will be telecast regionally live on FSN Northwest.
