Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team capitalized on a fast start and remained constant as the Eagles kicked off the second round of Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play with a 77-62 victory Tuesday night against North Central University. A 22-8 lead with 10:12 to play in the first half resulted in a 41-24 midway advantage that would stand the test of time for UNW as Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) led all scorers with 18 points.



Northwestern put the first eight points on the board, as Gisler sandwiched two threes around a Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) layup to hand the home team the upper hand at the 17:56 mark. The momentum continued to roll in the Eagles' favor with another pair of triples and two close-rangers as the margin increased to 14 midway through the first period.

North Central began to cut into the lead security as the minutes ticked by, bringing the game within six at the 24-18 score. Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy)'s bucket combined with another trey from Gisler would once again stretch the contest two double-digits and would remain consistent through the rest of the first half, ending at 41-24.

They key statistic for UNW was second-chance scoring that proved to be the difference maker in the initial minutes. The Eagles posted 12 points on their second go-around, besting NCU's total by 10.

North Central continued to pressure and made surges of comebacks, but a 0.556 rate from the floor allowed the Purple and Gold to hold a double-digit cushion for the remainder of the contest. The visitors on the scoreboard showed they were far from rolling over and began to force their way into the ballgame with 4:16 left. Bryce Burkman kicks-started the turnaround and was closely followed by Luke Chafin in the effort, bringing the game to 69-58 with just over three minutes left to play in regulation.

Securing the deal was UNW's final push of a Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) behind the arc make and Gisler bunny that left the final outcome at 77-62. While the visitors from Minneapolis posted a big half down low, the bench scoring of the Eagles allowed the squad to pick up its fifth UMAC win of the 2013-2014 campaign.

With Gisler's 7-9 performance from the floor the freshman earned top scoring honors on the night, while Carney was close behind with 17 of his own points. Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) rounded out UNW's double-digit offensive output marks with 11 points and chipped in eight assists to the result.

With the victory, Northwestern improves to 8-10 overall and 5-2 in league play on the season. The Eagles currently hold a share in the three-way tie for first place in UMAC standings, with UNW's weekend opponents of Crown College and the University of Minnesota Morris holding the other two spots.

Northwestern will travel to St. Bonifacius, Minn. on Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. contest before heading to Morris, Minn. for a matchup with the Cougars at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Both games mark the final time the Snelling Avenue North squad will be on the road during the regular season, as the next two weekends action will take place at the Ericksen Center.