Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 20, 2007 – The Northwestern College men's basketball team hosted Augsburg College in the Ericksen Center on Tuesday evening, defeating the Auggies 77-62 in non-conference action. Mike Anderstrom (Woodbury, MN/New Life Academy) (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) had a breakout game off the bench for the Eagles, going 9-of-12 from the field to score a team-leading 22 points. Head coach Tim Grosz also received great performances from Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, MN/Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) and Dave Zuleger (Wausau, WI/Wausau West) (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West), who turned in 19 and 11 points, respectively.

Northwestern made their first five attempts from behind the three-point arc, giving them a strong push to showcase a 21-11 lead six minutes into the game. After the Auggies got a bucket in, Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) and Anderstrom sparked another run for the Eagles, increasing the lead to 39-26 over the next 13 minutes with 1:55 to play in the first half. Augsburg came within eight on several occasions, but NWC closed out the half with a pair of free throws from Anderstrom, giving the good guys a 43-33 lead at the break.

Tuesday's second half featured a lot of back-and-forth basketball, with Northwestern stretching their lead to as much as 14 while Augsburg would chip the advantage down to seven and eight. The Auggies brought themselves within five at 57-52 midway through the period, but Anderstrom shifted the game's momentum, scoring ten of his team's 12 points over the next six minutes to put NWC up 13 at 69-56 with just over two minutes to play. Unlike their game against Jamestown on Saturday, Northwestern made their free throws down the stretch to close out the game with a 77-62 victory.

After their 60 percent first half from the field - including 5-of-10 from behind the arc - Northwestern still shot well in the second half to keep their average over 50 percent, shooting a 56.4 rate for the night. Augsburg wasn't far behind, as a 52 percent-second half put them at 45.6 percent for the game.

The Eagles turned 19 Augsburg turnovers into 23 points in the game while committing only 11 mishaps of their own. Grosz saw a strong performance from his bench that scored a total of 28 points, led by Anderstrom whose regular starting spot was given to Chris Gonsior (Centerville, Minn./Centennial) for the contest.

Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, MN/Maranatha) led Northwestern with nine rebounds, boosting his season average to 7.3 for the season. Anderstrom, who leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game, brought down seven in the game. Zuleger had five assists against Augsburg, while Steve Discher (Andover, Minn./Andover) (Andover, Minn./Andover) and Josh Strelecki (Crystal Falls, MI/Forest Park) (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park) each had four.

Augsburg (0-3) was led by Jon Cassens and Femi Solaja who each had 19 points. Nate Alm contributed 14 rebounds in the loss.

At 2-1 on the early season, NWC will take a break over the Thanksgiving holiday before hitting the court again on Monday for practice. The Eagles will resume their games next Friday, Nov. 30, when they travel to Chicago to participate in a tournament hosted by Judson College.