Box Score
ST. PAUL (Jan. 17, 2009) – Everyone in a Northwestern College jersey saw significant court time on Saturday night, as the Eagles pounded Crown College in a Hoops Hysteria extravaganza. The 89-42 win gave NWC its sixth consecutive victory. The Eagles have yet to lose in 2009.
Crown was finally able to score a basket after Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford)'s (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) three-point play made it 9-0 in Northwestern's favor early on. The Storm cut the lead to 19-15 in the next six minutes, but Northwestern followed with a storm of its own, jumping out to a 36-17 lead on Steve Discher (Andover, Minn./Andover)'s (Andover, Minn./Andover) successful shot from downtown. As the first half's last seconds ticked off, NWC went into the locker room with a 44-25 lead.
After extending their lead to 29 early in the second half, the Eagles pushed the advantage to 49 points, as the score read 89-42 at the final buzzer.
Northwestern had its best shooting performance of the 2008-09 season, making 38 of its 59 attempts for 64.4 percent. Crown countered with 31.4 percent, struggling from behind the three-point line at 27.3 percent. The Eagles entered this week third in all of NCAA Division III for three-point field goal defense.
Three players scored in double figures for NWC, including Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy), who led all scorers with 22 points on 10 of 13 shooting. Discher finished with 11 points in 14 minutes, while Reid Berens (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Eric Garst (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) and Lecheler combined for nine assists on the night. As a team, Northwestern dished out 23 assists compared to committing 14 turnovers.
Jacob Jarvis led Crown (0-13 overall, 0-5 UMAC) with 12 points, while Daniel Pust added 11.
With the win, Northwestern improved to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in the UMAC. The Eagles will now shift their attention to next Friday and Saturday, when they travel west for two big games against Presentation College and the University of Minnesota, Morris. Presentation will host NWC in a 7:30 p.m. matchup on Friday, Jan. 23 before Morris, whom the Eagles are tied with atop the conference standings, will welcome Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.
