Box Score

MANKATO, Minn. – A career high 22 points from Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) helped the University of Northwestern men's basketball team win its third straight contest on Saturday afternoon – a 77-59 victory over Bethany Lutheran College. Willey went 8-11 from the field and 5-8 from behind the three-point line to help the Eagles return home from their overnight road trip with a pair of Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) wins.

Willey started the day with three straight makes from downtown that put Northwestern in the driver's seat early on. While the Vikings from Bethany Lutheran hung around, the shots continued to fall for the Eagles. Willey's points total hit double digits before eight minutes had ticked off the clock, and Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) and Blake Van Maanen (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian) added baskets to keep Northwestern ahead, but Bethany claimed a small lead for a five-minute stretch. Northwestern responded to the Vikings advantage with a 10-0 run to close out the half as Willey's fast break layup with 10 seconds left in the period gave UNW a 33-26 edge.

Three-pointers from Eric Witthus (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) and Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) helped Northwestern improve its buffer to an eight- to 10-point margin before the Eagles used a 14-2 run that caused the lead to balloon to 21 points at 63-42. Four different UNW players made three-point baskets during the spree, helping the Eagles ride out a lead that floated between the high teens and 20 points before Northwestern claimed a 77-59 win at the buzzer.

The Eagles ended up with a 15-30 success rate from downtown on the day, going 27-51 overall from the floor. 16 of Willey's 22 points came in the first half to help the senior improve upon his prior career high from Northwestern's Dec. 10, 2013 win against Wisconsin-Superior. Witthus, Carney and Van Maanen all finished in double digits as well at 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

After recording eight assists and 15 turnovers against Martin Luther on Friday night, the Eagles reversed course on Saturday, dishing out 16 assists while committing eight turnovers.

Both Luke Roddy and Jacob Wensmann scored 15 points for Bethany Lutheran (2-12, 1-2 UMAC).

Now 6-8 overall (3-0 UMAC), Northwestern will return home for a pair of league games next weekend as the Eagles will host the University of Minnesota Morris and Crown College on Friday and Saturday.