Sophomore Ryzin Bergersen (6'4''-G) could not have come up with a bigger game at a bigger time.
Bergersen earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors after he scored a game-high 22 points, including 14 in the first half to key an 11-2 run to start the game as No. 6 seeded Northwest Nazarene beat No. 1 seeded Saint Martin's, 65-57, to win the GNAC Men's Basketball Championships at Carver Gym.
Bergersen was perfect in the first half and finished the night shooting 7 of 10 from the field and 6 of 7 from three-point range, leading the Nighthawks to their first GNAC championship. Sophomore Tru Allen (6'0''-PG) finished with 11 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Christian Rose (6'6''-F) contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
Junior Shakeem Alcindor led Saint Martin's with 10 points and eight rebounds while junior Christian Haffner (6'2''-G-1997) finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
With the win, Northwest Nazarene (15-14) receives the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship. Saint Martin's (24-6), which was ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Wesr Region Rankings entering the tournament, will wait to see if it is selected for an at-large berth. The Selection Show takes place Sunday at 8 p.m. (Pacific) online at NCAA.com.
Northwest Nazarene becomes the second-lowest seed to win the GNAC Championships. Only No. 10 Alaska, which won the 2022 tournament after all 10 teams qualified due to schedule complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, has won as a lower seed.
The Nighthawks could do little wrong in the first three minutes, bolting out to an 11-2 thanks to eight points from Bergersen, including two three-pointers. Northwest Nazarene shot 66.7% from the field and 83.3% from three-point range over the first eight minutes of the half, opening up a 25-9 lead on Christian Rose's jumper with 11:34 to go in the period. The Saints were equally as cold in that stretch, shooting just 21.4% from the field and going 0 for 7 from beyond the arc.
The Saints started finding their shooting touch in the middle minutes of the half and pulled back to within 31-16 on Kyle Greeley's three-pointer at the 7:36 mark. But SMU could not pull any closer than 15 until late in the period when it went on a 5-1 run to close it out. Marcus Lenker (6'4''-G)'s lay-in with 51 seconds left allowed the Saints to pull within 37-25 at halftime.
Saint Martin's found more of its shooting touch early in the second half, coming within 39-30 on Tyke Thompson (6'8''-G)'s lay-in less than two minutes in, but Gabriel Murphy (6'9''-F) scored three of the next eight points and his lay-up with 16:32 to go put the Nighthawks back up by 13 points, 45-32. The Saints kept pace until Bergersen struck again, connecting on his fifth three-pointer of the game and a technical free throw to put NNU up 52-37 with 11:15 left.
The Saints would not go away quietly and slowly cut the deficit to 59-50 on Christian Haffner's three-pointer with 4:07 left and Branden Bunn (6'2''-G) made it a 60-53 game with his three-pointer with 1:37 to go. The NNU defense limited SMU to just one more field goal the rest of the way.

Courtesy of gnacsports.com

All-Tournament MVP: Ryzin Bergersen (6'4''-G) of NW Nazarene
Player of the Year: Carrington Wiggins (6'2''-G) of MSUB
Defensive Player of the Year: Bilal Shabazz (6'8''-F) of MSUB
Freshman of the Year: BJ Kolly (6'8''-F) of WWU
Newcomer of the Year: Branden Bunn (6'2''-G) of St.Martin's
Coach of the Year: Mick Durham of MSUB

All-GNAC First Team 2023

Wiggins

Nielsen-Skinner

Anderson

Greeley

Cranston

Shabazz

First Team
Carrington Wiggins (6'2''-G) of MSUB
Jaden Nielsen-Skinner (5'10''-PG) of St.Martin's
Shaw Anderson (6'6''-F) of Seattle Pacific
Kyle Greeley (6'5''-G) of St.Martin's
Cameron Cranston (6'6''-G) of WOU
Bilal Shabazz (6'8''-F) of MSUB

All-GNAC Second Team 2023

Poquette

Murphy

Mohamed

Minnis

Johnson

Thompson

Second Team
Matt Poquette (6'6''-F) of CWU
Gabriel Murphy (6'9''-F) of NW Nazarene
Abdullahi Mohamed (6'8''-F-2000) of Alaska
D'Angelo Minnis (5'10''-PG) of WWU
Kai Johnson (6'4''-G) of WWU
Tyke Thompson (6'8''-G) of St.Martin's

All-GNAC Honorable Mention 2023

Gilbert

Storms

Gilbert

Hector

McNeil

Allen

Honorable Mention
Tyson Gilbert (6'2''-G) of Alaska-Anch.
Sawyer Storms (6'7''-F) of Alaska-Anch.
Brock Gilbert (5'11''-PG-1999) of CWU
Samaad Hector (6'6''-F) of CWU
Camron McNeil (6'5''-G) of CWU
Tru Allen (6'0''-PG) of NW Nazarene
Branden Bunn (6'2''-G) of St.Martin's
Zack Paulsen (6'4''-G) of Seattle Pacific
David Penney (6'1''-G) of Simon Fraser
Jahmal Wright (6'5''-G/F) of Simon Fraser
Cameron Benzel (6'7''-F) of WOU
BJ Kolly (6'8''-F) of WWU

GNAC All-Academic Team 2023

Sturm

Devine

Garrity

Gilbert

Larsen

Ruzek

All-Academic Team
Tybenn Sturm (6'3''-SG) of Alaska
Luke Devine (6'5''-F) of Alaska-Anch.
AJ Garrity (6'3''-G) of Alaska-Anch.
Tyson Gilbert (6'2''-G) of Alaska-Anch.
Caleb Larsen (5'10''-PG) of Alaska-Anch.
Vojtech Ruzek (6'9''-F) of Alaska-Anch.
Gaige Ainslie (6'8''-F) of CWU
Isaiah Banks (6'3''-G) of CWU
Mitch Brizee (6'9''-F-2001) of CWU
Colby Gennett (6'4''-G) of CWU
Matt Poquette (6'6''-F) of CWU
Emmanuel Ajanaku (6'10''-C) of MSUB
Jimmy Brown (6'9''-C) of MSUB
Anders Epperly (5'10''-PG) of MSUB
Jaren Fritz (6'4''-G) of MSUB
Tyler Neary (6'1''-G) of MSUB
Jaden Carter (6'8''-F) of NW Nazarene
Gabriel Murphy (6'9''-F) of NW Nazarene
Timothy TenKley (6'4''-G) of NW Nazarene
Kyle Greeley (6'5''-G) of St.Martin's
Christian Haffner (6'2''-G-1997) of St.Martin's
Veljko Ilic (6'9''-F-1998) of St.Martin's
Marcus Lenker (6'4''-G) of St.Martin's
Tyke Thompson (6'8''-G) of St.Martin's
Zack Paulsen (6'4''-G) of Seattle Pacific
RJ Veliz (6'2''-G) of WOU
Lucas Holden (6'7''-G) of WWU
Daniel Hornbuckle (6'1''-G) of WWU