Box Score
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 2, 2008) – Regardless of
Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, MN/Maranatha)'s (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) double-double and the return of
Steve Discher (Andover, Minn./Andover) (Andover, Minn./Andover), the Northwestern College men's basketball team was trumped by Eric Clute, as he lead Hamline University to an 88-84 victory on Wednesday evening. Clute, a freshman from Hawley, Minn., rarely missed, as he was 15-of-22 for 40 points in the non-conference affair.
Northwestern held the lead throughout the first half until Hamline went up by two with just over a minute to play in the initial period. The Eagles tied it up shortly thereafter, heading into the locker room at 42-42.
Early second-half blunders by the Eagles gave Hamline a 54-46 lead within the first three minutes of the period, but Northwestern clawed back to tie the Pipers at 74-74 with 5:49 to play. More turnovers to go with Clute's shooting eventually put NWC away 88-84.
Tim Grosz's squad surrendered a season-high 19 turnovers in a game where the Eagles shot 40.6 percent from the floor. Hot shooting from beyond the 3-point line kept Northwestern in the game early, as they shot 7-for14 for an even 50 percent in the first half from beyond the arc. Hamline's 50 percent-second half throttled them to an overall mark of 47.8 percent from the floor. The Pipers turned NWC's blunders into 25 points off of turnovers.
Northwestern was led by Hanson, who recorded his sixth double-double this season, scoring 25 points to go with 12 rebounds. Discher, who made an appearance in last Saturday's Macalester game after a prolonged injury, made his mark with 19 points in 36 minutes.
Mike Anderstrom (Woodbury, MN/New Life Academy) (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) also added 18 points in the loss. 29 of the Eagles points were courtesy of the team's bench.
Hamline improves to 5-4 overall, including a 3-1 mark in the MIAC.
The Eagles fall to 6-5 in the 2007-08 season, and will have one more non-conference contest before resuming UMAC play on Jan. 11. Northwestern will host Finlandia University on Friday, Jan. 4, which will be half of a men's and women's doubleheader. The men's game is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.
