Box Score

ST. PAUL -- Nearly all cylinders were burning for the Northwestern College men's basketball team as the Eagles returned from a two-game road trip to beat Finlandia University 90-75. NWC out-rebounded the Lions by 15 while two players in purple and gold hit the 20 point mark on Friday night.

Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) had an outstanding game overall, but the sophomore produced an especially superb first half. Gisler scored the first eight points of the game for Northwestern and 14 points in the first 11 minutes, which was capped off by a successful three-point shot from four feet behind the arc. After a five-point deficit, Finlandia came back to tie the game at 16-16 before taking a brief four-point lead halfway through the period. Northwestern responded with a 9-0 run to reclaim the scoreboard and eventually pushed the advantage to as much as 13 points with 53 seconds in the half before going into the locker room with a 45-34 lead.

While Gisler produced a double-double and Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) tallied eight assists in the first half alone, Northwestern never seemed to have total command of the game early on, as the Lions found themselves at the free throw line often. Finlandia had three and-one opportunities to go with 15 attempts at the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes, while Northwestern countered with six free throws.

Chase Leskela and Jonathan Moore helped the visitors cut the Eagles' lead to six in the first minute of the second period, but soon thereafter, a Nate Thompson (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) three-pointer gave Northwestern a double-digit lead for good. Northwestern's advantage reached a ceiling of 16 points twice in the final four minutes before the two teams settled on a 90-75 final score.

Four players scored in double figures for Northwestern as the Eagles had their best shooting performance of the 2010-11 campaign while also earning a season-high 90 points. As a team, NWC made 36 of its 76 attempts (47 percent) which was helped by a 52 percent rate in the second half. The Purple and Gold, who have mainly produced offense around the perimeter this season, out-scored Finlandia 48-28 in the paint while producing 31 second-chance points.

Gisler finished 8-15 for 21 points with Thompson close behind at 20 points, thanks to a 9-13 performance from the field. Gabe Jefferson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) and Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) joined Gisler in the double-double category - Jefferson had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Lecheler scored 12 points to go with 11 assists. The 10 Northwestern players that saw the court tallied 23 assists to just eight turnovers on the night.  Ethan Benton (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Linn-Mar) (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Lin-Mar) also had a strong night with seven points and 10 rebounds.

Finlandia (1-7) was led by Moore, who showcased a well-rounded game at 10-16 for 30 points. Leskela added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Lions.

Northwestern, now 4-2 overall this year, will rest for the remainder of the weekend before preparing for the University of Wisconsin-Superior, who will visit the Ericksen Center on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.