ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team opened its season in style, pulling off a thrilling 75-73 win over visiting Gustavus Adolphus inside the Ericksen Center Saturday afternoon. Clay Elrod (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) scored the final three points of the game and the Eagles stopped the Gusties on their final possession to secure the win.

The Eagles, who led throughout the entire first half, held a 32-29 advantage heading into the locker room.  Senior Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) scored the game's first five points and fellow senior Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) dropped 10 first-half points to lead the Eagles.

In an evenly played back-and-forth second half, the Eagles found themselves trailing by one with 37 seconds remaining when Clay Elrod (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) drove through traffic in the lane and connected on a layup to put the Eagles up one. The Bemidji State transfer then pulled down a board on the other end of floor after a Gusties missed jumper and was fouled. Elrod made 1-of-2 at the line and the Eagles stopped Gustavus' final two shot attempts to pick up the season-opening victory.  

Ooms poured in 19 points and pulled down seven boards, while Elrod went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc en route to matching Ooms' 19 points in his Northwestern debut. Carney (12) and Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) (11) also were in double figures for the Eagles. Northwestern shot an impressive 59.2 percent from the field in the opener.

Brody Ziegler's double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds led the Gusties.

The Eagles will head down Snelling Avenue for a contest with the Hamline University Pipers Tuesday night. Tip inside Hutton Arena is slated for 8 p.m. 

Note: Prior to tip-off Saturday, senior guard Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) was honored for reaching the 1,000 point milestone. Carney scored his 1,000th point in last year's NCAA Tournament win over Elmhurst College.