Box Score NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team will head into Christmas break ready to turn the page on the first half of the 2014-2015 season following an 85-60 loss to a St. Olaf College team that received 37 votes in the latest D3hoops.com weekly Top 25 poll. The Eagles had an ok shooting night, but were out-rebounded by 15 in a game that saw the Oles ahead by 22 at the halftime break.

Northwestern struggled out of the gate, making one basket in the game's initial five minutes, a period that featured 12 Oles points, including a three-pointer and another three-for-three opportunity at the free throw line. What was a double-digit lead for the home team by the 14:40 mark of the first period stayed that way for nearly the rest of the game, with UNW cutting the advantage to eight on Matt Lindgren (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove)'s made jumper with 10:14 to go in the half. Riley Aeikens' made three-pointer just before the first half buzzer put the St. Olaf lead over 22.

UNW made a push early in the second half, turning a 24-point Oles buffer into 17 on makes from Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School), but by the middle point of the period, St. Olaf's lead was back up to 23 and 25 points with the final difference being 85-60.

St. Olaf's 47 percent shooting performance was seven points better than the Eagles while the Oles went 10-20 from outside the three-point arc. Northwestern countered with a 7-15 rate from downtown. St. Olaf's 12 offensive rebounds translated into seven second chance points while 20 of the Oles' 29 makes on the night were assisted.

Sophomore Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) led UNW in scoring with a season-best 19 points off the bench. None of the Eagles' five starters scored more than nine points with that group going a combined 9-27 in shooting.

The Oles, whose national votes have them only two spots outside of the Top 25, had three players in double figures, including Ben Figini's 20-point night. The junior made 8 of his 11 attempts.

At 2-9, Northwestern will gladly take its two-week break before opening Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play on January 10 against North Central University. The Eagles will host the Rams at 5 p.m. that day in the Ericksen Center.