Box Score

NEW ULM, Minn. -- It took all 40 minutes, but the Northwestern College men's basketball team left Martin Luther College unscathed on Saturday with nearly the slimmest of margins in a 54-52 victory.  Saturday's game was much like the Eagles' five-point victory over Bethany Lutheran on Friday night, as NWC recovered from a late-game tie to earn their eighth game on the road this season.

Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage on the scoreboard until back-to-back free throws from Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) gave the Eagles a 12-7 lead seven minutes into the game.  Northwestern's lead hovered around five points until two more shots at the charity stripe from Lecheler boosted NWC's edge to eight.  Martin Luther responded with a 7-0 run that had the Eagles clinging to a 20-19 lead after the Knights' Justin Danell hit a three-pointer.  Lecheler made a lay-up to get Northwestern's lead to three, but Martin Luther continued to draw energy from its home crowd to earn a two-point buffer before the two teams went into the locker room with the score tied at 29-29.

The Knights ran out to their largest lead of the game at nine in the first five minutes of the second half before the Eagles began to chip away.  Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) (River Falls, Wis./River Falls), Ethan Benton (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Linn-Mar) (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Lin Mar) and Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) turned Martin Luther's gap into a 42-40 NWC lead over the course of five minutes.  Neither team led by four points the rest of the way out and Lecheler's free throw with seven seconds remaining proved to be enough in the 54-52 final.

Northwestern had one of its worst shooting performances of the year, making just 18 of 62 attempts from the floor while going 4-18 from behind the three-point line.  The Eagles made up for it by winning the turnover battle 10-18 and staying close in rebounds (NWC 39, MLC 42).

Lecheler finished with a team-high 14 points while Westberg added 11 for Northwestern.  Of the nine Eagles that saw the court, Josh Williams (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) had the best shooting night at 3-7 while grabbing nine rebounds.

Nathan Bauer led Martin Luther with 18 points, going 7-15 from the floor.  Greg Holzhueter, a senior who has been a staple for the Knights' program over the last four years, played his final home game, finishing with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Northwestern, now 19-6 overall, concluded its regular season with a 13-1 mark in UMAC play.  Ironically enough, the Eagles will open Wednesday's semifinal round of the conference tournament with Martin Luther. NWC, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will be happy to return to its comfortable surroundings in the Ericksen Center, where the Purple and Gold beat the fourth-seeded Knights 84-76 on January 28.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.