Daniel Kessler/The Falcon Senior Rob Will (left) and senior Jared Moultrie (right) lifts sophomore Brandon Larrieu from the court floor after being injured during Saturday’s game against Northwest Nazarene.

Senior Rob Will provided the thunder and sophomore Brandon Larrieu the lightning to lead the SPU men's basketball team to an 83-76 victory over Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) Saturday.

In a game against NNU filled with hard fouls and high scoring, Will finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Larrieu added 11 points and aggressive drives to the hoop.

Will flexed his biceps for the Royal Brougham faithful after muscling his way for a three-point play with 20 seconds left.

In addition to the three-point play, Will had two key offensive rebounds and seven total points in the final minute.

"Big Rob, he was the key," Larrieu said of Will. "He was finishing shots. Especially late in the game, he gave us extra chances to score."

The victory boosted SPU to sole possession of third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) with an 8-4 record. NNU fell into a tie for fourth at 7-5.

Coming into the game SPU ranked third and NNU fifth in the Western Region, with the top eight teams advancing to postseason play. The Falcons are unlikely to move up despite conference losses by Western Region leaders Alaska Anchorage and Cal State San Bernardino, SPU head coach Jeff Hironaka said.

The victory does, however, put the Falcons in position to control their postseason fate as long as they continue winning.

It didn't appear, early Saturday, as if that would be the case. Will had a quiet first half, finishing with only two points, before dominating in the second.

It was NNU who took charge with a 12-0 run to lead 29-18. Crusaders sophomore Louie Beech scored four of his team-high 14 points in the run and capped it with a backdoor layup.

The Falcons took a timeout and proceeded to get back into the game.

"In the first half, we allowed them to get comfortable," Hironaka said. "We woke up defensively to get ourselves back into it."

Larrieu offered a spark after entering the game, using his quickness to get into the heart of the NNU zone defense. He hit an acrobatic reverse layup while getting fouled with 1:53 remaining in the first half and tied the game at 35-35 with the resulting free throw.

With Larrieu's seven points leading the way, the bench scored 24 of SPU's 39 points at halftime.

"Our bench was the key in getting us back into the game," Hironaka said. "As the season's gone on, they're becoming a valuable part of the rotation."

Following halftime, the Falcons went on a 10-2 run fueled by three-pointers from senior Jared Moultrie and sophomore Rob Diedrichs. The Crusaders took a timeout after SPU raced to a 49-42 lead with 17:31 left.

Larrieu continued to contribute for the Falcons off the bench, poking the ball away from Crusaders Joel Ryman later in the half. But the sophomore guard was kneed in the head while tipping the resulting loose ball to freshman teammate Jeff Downs.

Though slow to get up, Larrieu quickly extinguished worries about the incident, nailing two pull-up jumpers to stretch the Falcon lead to 65-55 with 9:36 left.

"The stretch where we got a 10-point cushion and they had to take two timeouts--I thought that was a huge a stretch to give us a little bit of a cushion," Hironaka said. "They're such a good three-point shooting team that a 10-point lead is never comfortable."

Hironaka's fear of the NNU perimeter game was well-founded. With Will benched after his fourth foul, the Crusaders shot their way back into the contest, drawing within four at 68-64 with about five minutes left.

"They're a run-and-shoot team who execute really well on offense," Larrieu said. "They're good coming off screens [and] shooting the ball."

After Diedrichs hit a driving layup with 4:15 left, the teams stayed stuck at 72-66 for over two minutes. Following two free throws from junior Casey Reed, Ryman's jumper made it 74-70 with under a minute left.

The Crusaders intentionally fouled Moultrie, who missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw, but Will came to the rescue with a put-back to give the Falcons a six-point lead with 48 seconds to go.

Three-pointers from junior Adam Schildmyer and freshman Justin Parnell brought the Crusaders back, but Will's three-point play reestablished the Falcon lead. Reed and Will then hit four free throws to finish off the Crusaders.

"This was huge," Larrieu said of the victory. "All of the teams are beating each other up."

Hironaka added that, while SPU sits in good position in the region, there's not much margin for error at this point in the season.

"The regional polls are all based on a number system," he said. "We're still going to be in the top eight, but there's not a big difference between numbers three through 10."

Following the victory, SPU travels to St. Martin's University and Western Oregon University this week. The Falcons return home against University of Alaska, Fairbanks on Feb. 28.