ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team is headed home after a highly successful road trip that saw the Eagles win back-to-back Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) contests, including a 67-49 victory over Northland College on Saturday evening. A strong inside presence allowed UNW to have its best game of the season in terms of shooting while the Eagles held Northland to a 32.7 percent rate on the other end.

Scoring wasn't a problem for either team out of the gate as each owned an early lead. Northwestern quickly reversed the LumberJacks' 8-6 edge though, as the Eagles found themselves ahead by six after an 8-0 run that was fueled by three-pointers from Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville). UNW was on the verge of its first double digit lead of the game at 24-15, but Northland went on a 10-1 run to pull within a point of the Eagles as Maverick Harris and Tyrin Vann made key jumpers for the LumberJacks. The game of runs continued, only it was Northwestern who returned the favor, answering Northland's spree with a 10-0 run to close out the half and give UNW a 36-25 lead at the break. The Jacks had earned 11 of their 25 first half points on second chance opportunities thanks to six offensive rebounds, but the Purple and Gold's shots were falling at the high rate of nearly 63 percent.

Northwestern, which committed seven first half turnovers, had just five blunders the rest of the way as the buffer only slipped under 10 one time as Northland's Bryshaun Brown made a pair of ree throws 17 seconds into the second period. Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School)'s jump shot stroke was working early for UNW before Gisler's three-pointer with 10:07 left put the Eagles' lead at 20. A Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) make capped the scoring difference at 23 with 2:13 remaining in the game before Northland made the final two baskets to finish it with UNW on top 67-49.

While Northwestern didn't shoot as well in the second half as it did in the first, the Eagles still made half of their 26 attempts to finish the game at a 56 percent clip. Vann was the only LumberJack to score in double figures for his team, with six of his 10 points coming at the free throw line, while Carney, Gisler, and Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy) all hit double digits for UNW. Janson was one rebound shy of a double-double to go with his 11-point effort, while the junior's 28 minutes was the most of anyone in a Northwestern uniform. In 25 minutes, Gisler scored 13 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, making five of seven attempts from the floor.

The win is Northwestern's third straight and bumps the Eagles to 5-9 overall. Only UNW and Minnesota Morris have gone through the first three games of the UMAC slate unbeaten. While Northwestern won't see the Cougars for a couple of weeks, the Eagles will welcome Martin Luther College and Bethany Lutheran College to the Ericksen Center next Friday and Saturday, January 23 and 24. Tip-off against the Knights from Martin Luther is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday before UNW's Hoops Hysteria game versus Bethany Lutheran at 5 p.m. on Saturday.