Box Score
Game Reaction: Tom Gisler

ST. PAUL -- What looked like a comfortable 15-point lead at halftime for Northwestern College did not finish anywhere close to comforting, but the Eagles held off a last-minute College of St. Scholastica surge to win 79-73 in the Ericksen Center. Wednesday's victory advances Northwestern to the UMAC Tournament Championship on Saturday against Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn.

Northwestern fed off of its home crowd and came out hot, racing to a 9-0 lead before the Saints could put a point on the board. After a pair of free throws from St. Scholastica's Derek Steve, the Eagles' lead hit 10 points before six minutes had ticked off the clock when Ethan Benton drained a three-pointer from the left side. CSS cut the NWC advantage in half on a Thad Picott layup, but the Eagles came back even stronger, courtesy of a 17-4 run that put the home team up 37-21. Back-to-back threes from Benton and Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) caused Saints head coach David Staniger to call a timeout when the lead got to 20. St. Scholastica answered with five straight points to close out the half with NWC holding a 45-30 margin at the break.

Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) hit one of his five treys in the game early in the second period to set the tone for the first 10 minutes of the half when the Eagles' advantage would hover around 12 to 15 points. St. Scholastica shrunk Northwestern's cushion down to 10 and then seven on baskets from Chris Hamers and Jonah Dahlman and the Eagles couldn't wait for the game clock, which read 7:36, to run out faster. Gisler scored five straight points for NWC to bump the lead back to 12, but the Saints chopped the separation between themselves and the Eagles to just three points with 1:18 to play. With the shot clock off, St. Scholastica was forced to foul. Gabe Jefferson (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) made one of two free throws, and a couple CSS offensive missteps and a Northwestern layup later, the Eagles prevailed to win 79-73.

Northwestern, who shot 64 percent in the first half and just a percent less from behind the arc, finished at an even 50 percent for the night, going 29-58 from the floor. NWC finished 11-24 from long range, with several three-pointers coming at crucial moments of the game that could have otherwise tipped the momentum in St. Scholastica's favor. The Saints finished with a 27-66 shooting mark while going 5-13 from downtown.

Gisler was one of two Eagles to make eight of 13 shots on the night, sharing that honor with Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls). Gisler was a smooth 5-7 from outside the three-point line to finish with a game-high 25 points and seven rebounds. Westberg chalked up an 18-point performance while gathering 12 rebounds for a double-double. Chitwood also had 18 points for the Eagles.

Derek Steve led St. Scholastica (13-13) with 19 points. Hamers followed with 16 points on a 4-8 shooting night from behind the three-point line.

Northwestern, now 16-10 on the season, will turn its attention to the Vikings from Bethany Lutheran for Saturday's championship game to decide who moves on to the NCAA Tournament. Bethany has beaten the Eagles twice this season, once in overtime on the Vikings' home court and the other time by three points last Friday in the Ericksen Center. BLC advanced to the title game by handing the University of Minnesota Morris an 84-75 defeat. Saturday's tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.