Box Score

ST. PAUL – What was starting to look like a promising lead in the first half didn't quite finish with the same flair, but the University of Northwestern was still able to pull out a 71-66 victory over Bethany Lutheran College on Friday evening. The win keeps the Eagles in sole possession of first place in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) standings with a 9-2 league record.



Northwestern had the Ericksen Center home crowd on its feet early as Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) hit a trio of three-point shots within the game's first seven minutes, giving UNW a 13-5 advantage. While Carney was nailing his long distance attempts, the Eagles were also finding success under the hoop, where a pair of layups from Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) pushed the Northwestern buffer to 16 points at 26-10. That pace continued throughout the remainder of the period, with the home team owning a 39-27 margin at the halftime break.

UNW found itself at the free throw line often in the early goings of the second half. Eric Witthus (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) took advantage of both of his attempts at the charity stripe, as did Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) as the Eagles led by 15 with 16:06 to play. But Bethany Lutheran, who had won three straight games entering Friday's contest, started to push back while Northwestern suddenly struggled to score points at the same time. By 10:29, the lead was down to 10, and baskets by the Vikings' Mitchell Hopkins and Jacob Wensman had the thinning cushion down to five with more than enough time left to BLC to continue its momentum. That charge put the visitors within a point on Chris Scarver's three-pointer before two big free throws from Jeremiah Fogarty gave the visitors a one-point lead at 62-61 with 3:15 to play.

Carney, who was virtually silent in the second half after going off for 14 first half points, made two big free throws of his own to give the lead back to Northwestern. The sophomore added an and-one play shortly thereafter, and the Eagles were able to successfully end the night with a five-point win.

After making 51 percent of its shot attempts in the first half, Northwestern went just 7-for-25 in the second period to finish the game at 41.1 percent while going 6-23 from downtown on the night. Fortunately, the Eagles missed just two of 21 free throw attempts to make up for the difference. Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) was nearly flawless throughout his 31 minutes of play, making four of five shots while going 7-8 at the charity stripe to wrap up the night with a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double. The 13 boards is a career high for Ooms.

Carney led all players with 21 points to help Northwestern move to 12-10 overall.

Scarver was one of three Bethany Lutheran players to finish in double figures, with Trent -Kuechenmeister and Wensmann both adding 11 for the now 7-15 Vikings (6-5 UMAC), who are in a three-way tie for third place in the league standings.

Northwestern is back at it again on Saturday afternoon when Martin Luther College will come to town for the back end of a routine UMAC weekend doubleheader. The Eagles' conference lead is by one game, with Minnesota Morris looming at 8-3 in UMAC play with both teams having three games left in the regular season. Tomorrow's tip-off is set for 5 p.m.