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Game Reaction: Head Coach Tim Grosz

ST. PAUL -- After a rough start, the Northwestern College men's basketball team came back and made it a game before Nebraska Wesleyan University won the ACR Homes Tip-Off Tournament Championship with a 65-61victory over the Eagles on Saturday night. Northwestern. Down by four and five points, NWC had a few chances to pull within a basket in the final minute before Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville)'s three-point bucket with two seconds left made the final four-point difference.

Nebraska Wesleyan came out hot, scoring five points before NWC could get on the board in the first two minutes.  The Prairie Wolves increased their lead to seven before a Mitch Liberty three-pointer at the 15:11 mark made it 15-4 in favor of the visitors.  NWC started to battle back, cutting the lead to six on an Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) three-pointer, but the Wolves woke up in a big way, scoring 10 consecutive points to up their margin to 29-13.  Northwestern responded with a 15-6 run to finish the half with a 34-28 deficit.

The second half featured more double-digit leads by Nebraska Wesleyan and attempted comebacks by the Eagles.  With NWU leading by seven early in the second half, Bryce Arp scored on back-to-back layups for the Prairie Wolves to lead 43-32.  A Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) trey brought it to single digits, and a layup from Brent Kettenacker (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) a couple minutes later had the scoreboard reading 43-39 in Wesleyan's favor.  Just three minutes later, the Wolves were up big again, this time by 12, before Northwestern's run began.  Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) made a pair of free throws before Gisler hit another jumper, and the Eagles were within four with 27 seconds to play.  Both Chitwood and Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) had good looks from long range, but neither fell, and the Purple and Gold ran out of time.

Northwestern shot 37.7 percent from the floor, making 20 of its 53 attempts.  Even though NWC had just 10 turnovers, the Eagles were out-rebounded by 12, paving the way for 16 Nebraska Wesleyan second chance points.  The physical Wolves, whose roster includes eight players at 6'5” or higher, had 30 points in the pant.

Gisler, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-8 shooting, which included 3-4 from long range. Chitwood was close behind with 12 points, while Gabe Jefferson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast), another all-tournament selection, added 10 rebounds and five rebounds. Aaron Reep (Springfield, Ohio/Emmanuel Christian) posted eight points to go with eight assists, compared to just one turnover for the senior point guard.

All-tournament honorees Eric Jackson and Trevor Johnson had 19 and 17 points, respectively, for Nebraska Wesleyan, who shot an even 50 percent as a team.  Jackson, Johnson and Schweitzer were three of five Wolves who finished the game with five or more rebounds.

Now 1-2 overall in 2011, Northwestern will take a quick rest on Sunday before a one-day practice session on Monday to prepare for Tuesday's game against Macalester College. The Eagles will welcome the Scots to the Ericksen Center before both teams break for Thanksgiving, with tip-off scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.