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Stephen hanson
Lou Michaels - louthephotoguy.com

Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball deals UM-Morris 71-62 loss

Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College men's basketball team won its seventh straight game to remain in first place in the UMAC standings after fending off the University of Minnesota, Morris 71-62. The Eagles dished out 23 assists as a team while making 57 percent of their shots en route to the conference victory.

After leading by a slim margin throughout the first 10 minutes of the initial period, Northwestern caught fire. A pair of free throws by Aaron Reep (Springfield, Ohio/Emmanuel Christian) (Springfield, Ohio/Emmanuel Christian) and a three-pointer by Reid Berens (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) sparked a 12-0 run that lasted three and a half minutes, giving the Eagles a lopsided 39-25 lead at halftime. NWC's double-digit lead stayed true until the last three minutes of the game, when the Cougars cut the home team's advantage to six points with 2:08 left to play. A layup by Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) followed by a Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) dunk iced Morris, and the Eagles held on to a nine-point win.

The Eagles had one of their better shooting performances of the season, making 28 of their 49 shots (57 percent). Things went well for Northwestern from downtown too, where Tim Grosz's crew made half of its 16 attempts. Morris countered with a 39 percent shooting night and a dismal 20 percent performance from behind the three-point line.

Hanson fueled his team's fire in more ways than one throughout the 40-minute contest. The senior's 6-9 performance gave the Eagles 14 much-needed points to go with six rebounds and a trio of both assists and blocks. Hanson's dunks - one of which started with an alley-oop from Gabe Jefferson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) - brought the Ericksen Center's packed Hoops Hysteria crowd to its feet.
 
Berens chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds in the win, while Eric Garst (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) was 3-4 from long range for 10 points and eight assists.

Phil Allen and Eric Dalbey each scored 12 points for Morris, who shared the UMAC's first-place preseason ranking with Northwestern before the start of the season.

The win bumps the Eagles to 11-6 on the season (6-1 UMAC). With half of the team's conference games behind them, NWC sits one game ahead of Presentation College - whom the Eagles beat on Friday night. Northwestern will travel to North Central University on Tuesday evening (7:30 p.m. start) before returning home to host Crown College on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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