ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College men's basketball team played a nearly flawless game on Friday night, handing Martin Luther College an 84-76 loss in the Ericksen Center.  The Eagles committed just seven turnovers as a team while dishing out 19 assists, 10 of which came from the hands of Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford). NWC has now won four straight and seven of its last eight games while MLC's three-game winning streak came to a halt with the loss.

Neither team established much of an advantage in the first half until NWC went on a 15-2 run. Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) played a big role in the run, hitting a pair of three-pointers to help the home team lead 33-18 with 9:18 left in the period. The moment Martin Luther cut the lead to single digits, Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) hit a three of his own to give Northwestern a 46-35 edge at halftime.

The second half was much like the latter portion of the first half, with the Eagles earning leads of nine and 10 but unable to put the game out of reach. Northwestern's advantage hovered around that mark, which proved to be enough in the 84-76 final score.

The Eagles made 46 percent of their 59 attempts from the floor while draining seven of 20 shots from downtown. Martin Luther actually had a better shooting percentage at 49, but the Knights' 16 turnovers proved to be the difference, as NWC capitalized with 19 points on their opponent's mistakes.

Despite coming up two points shy of his career scoring high, Lecheler had an incredible night, going 7-13 from the floor and 9-9 from the free throw line for 23 points to go with 10 assists to no turnovers. The senior also tallied three steals in the game. Westberg went 6-9 for 14 points off the bench, while Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) and Chitwood each added 13 points to Northwestern's total. Gabe Jefferson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) had 10 of the team's 31 rebounds.

Galen Holzhueter scored a team-high 22 points for Martin Luther while his brother, Greg, added 17 points on 5-7 shooting. Nathan Bauer also turned in a 17-point performance for the Knights (3-12, 2-4 UMAC).

Northwestern (11-6, 5-1 UMAC) will be back in action in less than 24 hours when the Eagles host Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday afternoon to break the first place tie that currently exists in the UMAC standings. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Ericksen Center.