Box Score
DECORAH, Iowa – A poor shooting night led to Northwestern College's second consecutive loss after the Eagles started the 2012-2013 season with five straight wins. Luther College held NWC to a 36.8 percent clip en route to a 72-57 Norse nonconference victory.
After an even and low-scoring initial 10 minutes, things got out of hand for Northwestern leading up to the halftime break as Luther turned a one-point, 5-4 lead into an 11-4 advantage. The Eagles answered the mini-run with a bucket, but the Norse continued their push that resulted in a 15-point margin in a span of five minutes.
That run put NWC down 32-20 heading into the locker room before the Eagles found themselves in a 19-point hole midway through the second period. NWC produced a run that cut the Norse advantage to single digits just after the nine-minute mark, but Luther came out of a timeout on a 7-1 run to bump the lead back to 15 at 59-44 before finishing with a 14-point Friday evening win.
Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) had 21 points for Northwestern, but the senior was forced to sit on the bench during a crucial time in the second half due to foul trouble. The Eagles made just 21 of their 57 shots in the game, which included an 8-for-25 (32 percent) effort in the first period. NWC's Achilles heel, long range shooting, wasn't there tonight as Luther held the Purple and Gold to a 2-10 pace in the first half and an 8-25 mark for the game. Northwestern did match the Norse in rebounding while committing one less turnover than the home team.
Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian),
Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) and
Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) each had nine points, while
Daniel Petkau (Rib Lake, Wis./Rib lake) led NWC with eight rebounds in 19 minutes. The Eagles went into the battle without senior starter
Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls), who did not play due to an injury. Westberg's fellow senior
Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) was held to a 1-7 shooting mark on the night, finishing with just three points.
Six-foot- nine Tyler Wedemeier went 10-11 from the field to lead Luther with 24 points and eight rebounds while rejecting four Eagles shot attempts. Zach Matos added 12 points for the Norse, who finished with a 56.9 percent shooting percentage in the game.
Northwestern, now 5-2 overall, hopes that a return to its home state will help reroute its efforts back into the winning column as the Eagles play two games in the area next week. On Tuesday, NWC begins its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) slate at North Central University in Minneapolis (7:30 p.m. tipoff) before coming home to host Wheaton College on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
