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Gabe Jefferson
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Men's Basketball

Eagles find win column with 73-64 win over North Central

Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College men's basketball team squeaked out its first win of the 2008-09 season on Friday, defeating North Central University 73-64 at home to advance to the NWC Tip-Off Tournament championship game. Northwestern pulled ahead of the Rams for good with less than five minutes to play in the game before holding on to what turned out to be a nine-point victory.

Northwestern (1-1) didn't turn in a great performance, but got the job done against a North Central team that nearly knocked of St. Scholastica earlier in the week. After a holding a slim 31-30 lead at halftime, the Eagles outrebounded the Rams by 15 in the second half to help NWC score 27 second chance points. Fans in attendance witnessed six lead changes throughout the 40-minute contest.

Four players scored in double figures for the Eagles, including Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) and Robbie Anderstrom (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy), who were both one rebound shy of a double-double. Both players scored 10 points to go with nine rebounds, five of which were on the offensive side of the court for each individual. Anderstrom, who was playing in just his second collegiate contest, put up career numbers that are sure to be broken in the future.

Reid Berens (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) turned in a 15-point, seven-rebound performance while Nathan Thompson (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) was 4-8 shooting for 10 points. In all, head coach Tim Grosz played 11 members from his team - none of which played more than Berens' 27 minutes, to give the Eagles some added depth.

Jeremy Grilley came out of the woodwork for North Central (0-2), making 10 of his14 shots for 23 points to go with eight rebounds. Grilley made both of his three-point attempts in the game.

The Eagles will return to the court on Saturday when they face Marian University (Wis.) at 7 p.m. in the tournament finale. Marian posted a 69-64 come-from-behind victory over Finlandia University earlier in the day to advance to the championship game.
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