Box Score

ST. PAUL – The hoop seemed to be a little bit closer than normal and the rim a bit wider on Saturday evening as the Northwestern College men's basketball team rode a 62.7% field goal mark to a 102-60 win over Northland College. The Eagles posted a big first half, reaching the 50-point mark before the first 20 minutes had played out.



Northwestern led early after a Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) jumper, with the visitors from Ashland, Wis. holding close for the first part of the period. The Eagles owned a double-digit lead at the 11:18 mark after the freshman duo of Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy) and Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) combined for eight points, kicking off a dynamic run that would set the tone for the remainder of the half. From that point forward, NWC outscored its opponent 14-0, extending the lead out to 22 points on the back end of a Janson close-range make.

The Purple and Gold was not done rallying and began its second push for points, ending the first 20 minutes with a 50-21 advantage. Northwestern was certainly aided by its bench players who combined for 16 points in the first half alone. Another contributing factor to the big first period was the 50.0 long-range mark in addition to a field goal percentage of 63.6.

Early in the second period both teams exchanged baskets before a Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School)  downtown layup followed by Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell)'s successful fast break put NWC up by 35. The Lumberjacks cut into the margin and posted some scoring of their own before the Eagles' next charge began at the 9:19 mark. Carney kick-started the run, while teammates Janson and Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) each had their piece of the scoring that mounted the lead to 42 points. Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) added a bucket of his own before the rally concluded, leaving the scoreboard at 84-40 with 7:51 left in regulation.

NWC's largest lead of the game came with 1:16 remaining after Shephard connected with Blake Van Maanen (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian) who executed from triple range, putting the Eagles in triple digits for the first time since January 5, 2004. The squad left the court with a 102-60 victory, its sixth of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) season.

Northwestern (13-5 overall, 6-1 UMAC) had four players chip double-digit point totals to the final score, with Chitwood, Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls), Carney, and Janson totaling 16, 13, 13, and12 respectively. A night after dishing out his 250^th career assist, Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) directly contributed to seven of his teammates' baskets en route to a team total of 30 assists, a season high. A large contributing factor came as a result of the 56 points tallied by NWC's bench players as every student-athlete in an Eagle uniform stepped on the hardwood for at least six minutes.

After completing the first round of conference play, the Eagles will get right back into the swing of things as the team travels down to Minneapolis for its third meeting (second conference game) with North Central University. The contest will get underway at 7:30 p.m. following the women's matchup.