Box Score

ST. PAUL (Feb. 22, 2008) – Going into Friday's second semifinal game of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament, Northwestern and Bethany Lutheran had a lot of excitement to live up to, seeing as though Martin Luther had defeated St. Scholastica in an overtime thriller two hours previous. The Eagles and Vikings put up a pretty good fight though, as Northwestern claimed a slim 83-82 win over Bethany Lutheran in the Ericksen Center.

 

All 1,600-plus fans in attendance were on their toes in the final seconds, as NWC, who led by a point, had two attempts to take at least an immediate win out of the picture with one-and-one free throw attempts. The Eagles missed the front end of both one-and-one's in the final 30 seconds though, giving Bethany's Tommy Saffert the opportunity to put it away with a final half-court heave. The sophomore's shot went long, and Northwestern claimed their third win of the season over the Vikings.

 

For Bethany, it was their third road game in four nights, having played a conference game versus Martin Luther on Tuesday and Minnesota-Morris in a play-in game on Thursday.

 

Neither team was able to gain a strong advantage in points, as the lead changed 14 times while the score was tied 16 more. The Eagles' largest lead of eight came with 3:18 to play in the first half, while the Vikings owned a six-point lead five minutes into the game.

 

Both teams shot the lights out, as Northwestern made 56.9 percent of their attempts while Bethany countered with an even 50 percent. The Eagles were scorching from 3-point land, as they made 12 of their 21 attempts (57.1 percent) from long range.

 

3-pointers were definitely not a scarcity in the game, as both teams made a combined 22 threes from downtown. At one point, fans in attendance witnessed eight treys in a span of just over four minutes.

 

Josh Strelecki (Crystal Falls, MI/Forest Park) (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park) was Northwestern's primary weapon of the night, as the senior was 9-of-16 and 5-for-9 from 3-point land for a team-high 23 points. Strelecki also had six assists and two steals in the win.

 

Joining Strelecki in double figures were three other players in Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy), Mike Anderstrom (Woodbury, MN/New Life Academy) (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) and Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, MN/Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy). Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) was 6-of-10 for 14 points, while Anderstrom and the elder Hanson added 12 and 11, respectively.

 

Bethany's Saffert seemed unstoppable against Northwestern, scoring points – especially 3-pointers – at will. He finished with a game-high 25 points, going 9-of-15 from the field and 5-of-9 from downtown while dishing out six assists and grabbing six rebounds.

 

Jeff Zimmerman added 17 points to the Vikings' offense, while Andy Wills had 14 points and seven rebounds.

 

Bethany Lutheran (11-16, 9-5 UMAC) could see Northwestern again in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) North Central region tournament in early March. The region rankings and pairings have yet to be released, and will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

Northwestern (18-8, 12-2 UMAC) has the match-up they've wanted, as they'll face Martin Luther in Saturday's championship game. After upsetting the regular season conference champions just one week ago, Martin Luther is one of two UMAC teams to beat the Eagles this year, and the only opponent to hand them a defeat on their home floor. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.