Box Score SAINT BONIFACIUS, Minn. – A double-digit lead within the first three minutes of play provided the Northwestern College men's basketball team with an advantage that would stand the test of 40 minutes Saturday evening, as the Eagles picked up their second consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) victory with a 74-62 win over Crown College. Even amidst pressure from the Storm, NWC was able to maintain an advantage throughout the contest.

Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) led the early charge for the visiting team, rattling off five of Northwestern's first nine points. The Eagles stretched their upper hand to 11 points at the 17:27 mark after Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) scored in the paint, just before a Crown jumper fell, ending NWC's opening run.

The Storm began to loosen the early security as they brought the game within a single possession 9:02 into the contest, and further brought the game within one point nearly two minutes later. Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) and company responded, with Willey picking up the credit for NWC's next nine points, leaving the score at 27-22,  and providing a bit of lead security as the home team continued to chip away at any lead the Eagles would own. Heading into halftime, Northwestern maintained control, 35-27.
The early portion of the second half looked similar to the end of the first, with the Purple and Gold scoring and Crown responding with points of its own. Starting at 18:50, the Eagles began an 11-2 run as a triple from Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) found the bottom of the net amidst an eight-point contribution by Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) in the same stretch pushed the score to 49-34 with 14:16 left on the clock.

The tale of the game continued, as the home team on the scoreboard brought the game within single digits near the midpoint of the second period before NWC would take off again, this time rallying to 13 uninterrupted points. Northwestern's largest lead of the game, 22 points, came following a Daniel Petkau (Rib Lake, Wis./Rib lake) layup, but yet again the lead was cut to single digits with 1:41 to play.

The Purple and Gold went 6-8 from the charity stripe to end the game on the top side of a 74-62 victory, earning the squad its 11^th overall win, and fourth in league play.

Gisler picked up top-scoring honors for the game after tallying 17 points on 6-10 shooting, including 4-6 from three-point land. Westberg, Chitwood, and Willey joined Gisler in finishing in double figures, while Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) contributed nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists to NWC's win.

As a whole, Northwestern owned a 44.1% mark from field goal range, while the Storm posted a 39.3 percentage. One key to the Eagles' success proved to be their 19 points off of Crown's 12 turnovers, while the home group scored nine.

Next up for NWC is a return to the Ericksen Center as the squad will host the College of St. Scholastica in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap of a UMAC double header Friday, January 25.