Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team took its show back out on the road on Friday, earning a 85-65 victory over the College of St. Scholastica. The Eagles outscored the host-Saints 32-16 in the paint while shooting over 50 percent for the second straight game en route to the win.

St. Scholastica had the early lead on their home court in the Reif Gym, making a few buckets to hold a slim edge over Northwestern in the initial five minutes. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian)'s layup at the 14:32 mark of the first half gave the Eagles their first lead of the game and it stuck for the rest of the game. After CSS's Tyler Rosenberger cut the UNW buffer to one point on a three-point make, Northwestern went off for an 11-1 run that put the Eagles ahead by double digits. Rosenberger tried to put his team within reach with another jumper, but Northwestern answered back with a 6-3 run to finish the half with a 37-26 advantage.

Northwestern had a firm lead 90 seconds into the second period as Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) hit back-to-back treys to go with a Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy) make that improved the margin to 16. St. Scholastica wasn't able to get any closer than 13 points the rest of the way as a jumper from Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) and a Janson layup kept the buffer at 17 as the clock slipped under 12 minutes. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian)'s three-pointer with 6:58 to go boosted the Eagles to a 20-point gap. Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) used a layup to cap the lead at 26 points before the final horn sounded with UNW winning 85-65.

Northwestern made 54 percent of its shooting attempts on the night while going 11-25 from downtown. The Eagles' 9-15 mark from behind the arc in the second half certainly made up for a 2-for-10 first half performance.

Carney was one of five UNW players to record double figures for scoring, leading the way with 15 points on a 5-10 night. Watnemo added 12 points, with both Janson and Willey chipping in 10 points. Friday was Janson's first time back in the starting lineup since the Eagles' fourth game of the season on November 19.

While individual scoring was spread nicely across the board for Northwestern, St. Scholastica featured only one player with more than nine points as Scottie Rucks had a 12-point night. Saints head coach David Staniger received just 30 points from his starting five.

The win improves Northwestern to 8-9 overall and 5-1 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action. The Eagles will have a chance to return to .500 on Saturday afternoon when they wrap up the doubleheader weekend with another conference bout, this time against Northland College in Ashland, Wis. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. on the south shore of Lake Superior.