Minneapolis, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team defeated North Central University 81-67 Tuesday night. The Eagles proved to be successful as their eight game winning streak continues in the second round of Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play.

The Eagles built a steady climb by holding the lead the entire game over the Rams. At 18:12, Northwestern led 7-2 but couldn't score until nearly three minutes later, when Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) made his second three of the night. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) added a three of his own, which would be the only Eagle basket in the next four minutes until Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville)'s shot in the paint brought to the lead to 15-8, forcing a Rams timeout at 11:08. Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) made two consecutive shots from downtown, creating a window of opportunity for Northwestern to take off running. With a 13 point advantage, UNW managed to keep North Central to a double digit deficit for the remainder of the half. Going into the second period, the Purple and Gold took an impressive 18 point lead with 43-27 on the scoreboard.

North Central fought hard to overcome their first half set-back, bringing the score to 46-37 with 16 minutes to go. Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg)'s two shots from downtown launched the Eagles to a 21 advantage with the score at 60-39 with just over 11 minutes on the clock. Continuing to put up a fight, NCU's Travis Voigt made a three pointer at 9:58 as the Rams fought to get a run of points rolling. Seven Eagle charity points in the last two minutes gave the visitors an extra kick, along with NCU's seven points from Luke Chafin alone. Regardless of bringing the deficit down to a mere 10 points, North Central was unable to capitalize on shots before the buzzer, falling to the Eagles 81-67.

Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) led the visitor's squad with 15, shooting 3-4 for threes and 5-7 for field goals. Closely following behind, Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) took home 14 points and seven rebounds, along with Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) with 13. Northwestern's impressive shooting for the night contributed to their success on the court with 51.8 percent for field goal territory and 52.6 for threes, making 10 of the 19. The Purple and Gold made 28 points off the bench with points spread among eight players.

North Central's top shooter was Chafin with an impressive 27 points, followed by Jordan Harrell (14) and Josh High (11). Shooting 50 percent of field goals and 44.4 percent for threes, the Rams were slightly less effective on capitalizing shots.

Northwestern holds their undefeated 8-0 conference record, traveling to Southwest Minnesota to take on Bethany Lutheran College and Martin Luther College this weekend. The Eagles will play the Vikings Friday night in Mankato, Minnesota at 7:30p.m. and will face the Knights on Saturday at 5p.m.