Box Score


ST. PAUL – After facing a first-half deficit, the Northwestern College men's basketball team utilized a strong second half and double-digit scoring from all four of its seniors to pick up a victory over Martin Luther College Friday night. With the 82-70 win, the Eagles improve to 2-0 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play.

Martin Luther came out of the gates strong, resulting in six offensive rebounds in the first minute of the contest and an upper hand for the majority of the first half. Northwestern tied the game at the 18:51 mark after Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) found Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) for a basket in the lane, but the Knights would push their lead to five just over two minutes later.

The Eagles tied the game again after a Chitwood three at 14:42, the final time the score would be even for the remainder of the period. The visitors held its largest margin of the game in the 15^th minute, a 39-28 advantage before triples from Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) and Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) brought the game within reach with 4:01 to play before intermission. Martin Luther struck again, eventually leaving NWC trailing at half, 37-44.

Northwestern did not waste time in the second half, cutting into the Knights' lead right away. The game was tied for the third time just 1:47 after the period began, and NWC led for the first time at the 16:29 mark, 48-46, after a successful jumper from Chitwood.

The rest of the period proved to look up for the host team who would go on to reverse the tables and lead by double-digits 72-59 with 8:35 to play, thanks in part to Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian), Chitwood, and Gisler's scoring. The Eagles continued to build upon their momentum and pushed the game to 76-62 at the 6:14 point after a pair of makes from the charity stripe by Gisler. Key rebounds turned into offense allowed NWC to keep the game under control and the buzzer sounded in favor of the home team on the scoreboard, 82-72.

The Purple and Gold led the battle in rebounds, 49-43 while also posting an advantage in shooting percentage from the floor and beyond the arc. The efforts on the boards paid off for the Eagles, as they posted a 14-0 advantage in second chance points in the second half alone.

NWC's four seniors made their presence known on the court, scoring 66 of the team's 82 points Chitwood led the charge with 25, while Libby, Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) and Gisler added 18, 12, 11 points respectively. With his first made shot, a three pointer, Gisler scored the 1,000^th point of his career, joining teammate Chitwood as the second current NWC player to accomplish such a feat.

Northwestern (9-4, 2-0 UMAC) will have a quick night of rest before hitting the hardwood again on Saturday for a matchup with Bethany Lutheran College at 5 p.m. at the Ericksen Center.