Box Score

ST. PAUL – The Northwestern College men's basketball team persevered through its first road test of the 2012 season, edging out Macalester College in the Scots' Leonard Center by a 79-71 final score. The Eagles, who led by six points at halftime, found themselves tied with Macalester with less than three minutes to play before going on a 6-0 run, forcing the Scots to foul.

NWC came out of the game's opening tip-off cold as Macalester started with an 8-0 lead before 80 seconds ticked off the clock. Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) made the Eagles' first bucket of the night – and many more to follow – to cut the Scots' margin down to one over the course of the next four and a half minutes. By the halfway point of the first half, Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy)'s jumper tied the game at 14-14 amidst a 11-0 Northwestern run that eventually gave the Eagles a five-point advantage. NWC's buffer reached 10 before both teams went into the locker room with the Eagles leading 33-27 at the break.

Northwestern's lead got back to 10 early in the second period before Macalester began to eat away at the margin, turning a 37-27 Eagles upper hand into a 45-45 tie in the next seven minutes. MAC then took back the lead with 10:58 left to play, increasing the home team's advantage to 54-49 on Pierce Peters' jump shot. The Scots lead lasted until the 4:42 mark, when a Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) three-pointer gave the Purple and Gold a two-point edge. As soon as NWC would make a basket to lead by two, Macalester would follow with a bucket to tie the score as the end of regulation was coming closer. Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls), who was playing in his first game this season, made a basket that again put the Eagles up by two points. Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) rebounded Peters' could-be answering jumper and made a pair of free throws to give Northwestern a little space with a 68-64 margin. After Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell)# made a layup at the 1:19 mark, Chitwood and Libby converted on nine of 10 attempts at the free throw line to preserve what would be an eventual eight-point victory.

A 57.7 second half shooting percentage helped Northwestern finish at 49 percent (28-57) for the game, while Macalester countered with a 43.9 percent mark. The Eagles went six of 16 from behind the three-point line, with Gisler finishing 3-5 from downtown.

Chitwood was 8-13 from the field for a NWC-high 21 points to go with seven assists, while Watnemo was one of the team's most consistent shooters with a 9-12 mark that translated into 19 points. Gisler, Libby and Westberg all contributed 10 points apiece to the Eagles' offensive efforts.

Peters had 26 points in 26 minutes for Macalester, who drops to 1-1 following the loss.

Northwestern has yet to lose this season with the Eagles having won their first three games of the 2012-2013 campaign in a five day stretch. NWC will be back in action this Saturday, Nov. 20, when Hamline University comes to the Ericksen Center for a 7 p.m. contest.