ST. PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 12, 2008) -- It didn't take long for the Northwestern College men's basketball team to establish themselves on Saturday evening, as the Eagles defeated the visiting LumberJacks from Northland College 86-58.

After Northwestern's 5-0 lead within the game's first two minutes, Northland cut into the game with a Dylan Ring lay-up. The Jacks weren't able to hang with the Eagles much longer though, as Northwestern owned leads of 23-10 and 42-24 before going into the locker room with a 50-29 advantage.

Head coach Tim Grosz's deeper reserves took the court shortly after mid-way through the second half, where rarely mentioned names like Matthew Nylin (Mendota Heights, MN/New Life) (Mendota Heights, Minn./New Life Academy), Nathan Thompson (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Academy), Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) and Billy Hall (Fargo, ND/Park Christian, MN) (Fargo, N.D./Park Christian) maintained Northwestern's lead until the end, when the scoreboard read 86-58 in favor of the Eagles.

NWC shot just under 60 percent in the first half, which was evidenced by Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, MN/Maranatha)'s (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) 13 points. Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) and Josh Strelecki (Crystal Falls, MI/Forest Park) (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park) also had 10 points going into the break.

The Eagles finished at 56.9 percent for the game while posting a 43.8 percent-performance from behind the 3-point line, making seven of their 16 attempts. NWC owned a nine-rebound advantage (36-27) while earning 25 assists on 37 made baskets.

Northwestern finished with 50 points in the paint and 26 points off of 23 Northland turnovers.

Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) capped off his team-high 22 points with a dunk 10 minutes into the second half, while brother Daniel finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double in 18 minutes. Only two Eagles didn't score in the contest.

Zeb Woiak had 10 points and six rebounds to lead Northland.

With the Friday-Saturday sweep, Northwestern improves to 8-6 (3-0 UMAC). The Eagles will continue their conference schedule on Friday, Jan. 18, when they travel to New Ulm, Minn. to face Martin Luther College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.