Box Score
Game Reaction: Head Coach Tim Grosz

ST. PAUL -- Northwestern struggled to find the bottom of the net against Bethany Lutheran College on Friday night and the Vikings made shots down the stretch to end the Eagles' five-game winning streak in a 59-56 final score. NWC shot just 34 percent on the night while going eight of 30 from behind the three-point line in a game that went down to the wire.

Neither team led by more than five points throughout the entire 40-minute contest. As soon as one team would take the lead, the other would find a way to the basket to briefly steal the momentum. That theme started early, as Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls)'s jumper put the Eagles up 6-2, only for Bethany to come right back with six straight points to steal the lead at 8-6. In a low-scoring first half, neither team shot the ball well. The Vikings made just eight shots, with the Eagles just one bucket ahead at nine. Northwestern's downfall was an eight minute stretch in which the home team went without a basket before barely leading 21-19 at the break.

The second half was more of the same down to the final minute. Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) made both of his free throws, only for Bethany's Derek Peterson to hit a jumper to cut the margin to two. Northwestern looked headed in the right direction after Gabe Jefferson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) drained a three at the 15:44 mark to put the Eagles up by five, but back-to-back shots from the Vikings chopped the buffer to one on a Garrett Benson layup at 28-27. Bethany really started to heat up down the stretch as Deon Wright and Alex Weldon made big shots from outside the arc to give the visitors a one-point edge with the scoreboard reading 45-44. The Vikings looked like they might pull away, but consecutive free throws by Westberg and a timely Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) trey had the Eagles within range at 51-50 with 3:14 to go. With Northwestern down by four with under a minute to go, Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) connected from the left corner. The junior had that same open look with 13 ticks left that would have gave the Eagles a one-point lead, but Gisler's shot hit the front edge of the rim and NWC's hopes went with it in the three-point loss.

Northwestern finished 21-62 from the floor while Bethany's 14-23 second half rounded the Vikings' shooting off at 44 percent for the game. The Eagles had limited turnovers (six) while scoring 13 points off of BLC's 13 mistakes.

Gisler went 6-17 to lead NWC with 15 points. Westberg was close behind, making five of his nine shots for 14 points. Jefferson had eight points and nine rebounds, while Chitwood, who entered the game averaging over 20 points per game in UMAC affairs, worked hard for eight points.

Weldon's four three-pointers in the game helped him get to 16 points. Gavin Kroehler added 10 points and seven boards for Bethany (15-9, 13-0 UMAC).

Now 14-10 overall (9-4 UMAC), the Eagles will have another chance to solidify the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament when Martin Luther College comes to the Ericksen Center on Saturday afternoon. A Northwestern win or a St. Scholastica loss at Presentation would award home court advantage in Wednesday's semifinal contest to the Eagles, who will celebrate their three seniors tomorrow. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.