ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team welcomed Hamline to the Ericksen Center for Thursday night non-conference action.
 
The Pipers, who have won the last two head-to-head meetings with the Eagles, were unable to overcome Northwestern's late game momentum. With the overtime win, UNW improves to 2-0 on the year, while Hamline falls to 1-2 overall. This marks Northwestern's first 2-0 start since the 2015-16 season.
 
Following a strong UNW start (17-11 lead), the Pipers called a timeout eight minutes into play. The brief break changed the course of the next five minutes as Hamline orchestrated a 20-4 run to go up by 10. The Eagles regained offensive momentum and entered the half down by six (37-31).
 
Strong second half play by Brady Bellefeuille (Frazee, Minn./Frazee) spearheaded a comeback. Northwestern tied it up at 43-43 with just under fifteen minutes on the clock, and regained the lead on a Bellefeuille layup.
 
The Eagles led by as much as five points before Hamline came storming back, scoring nine straight points to take a four point lead with 7:30 remaining.
 
The resilient Eagles trailed for the final six minutes, but inched their way back just in the nick of time. Down by four with 19 seconds on the clock, Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) drained a huge three-pointer to draw within one. Northwestern immediately fouled – sending Hamline to the line to gain another offensive possession. This time it was Johnny Erickson (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy), who drove coast to coast with 8 seconds on the clock to lay it up and in to send the game to overtime.
 
The excitement just kept coming as both teams shot above 55% in extra minutes. Once again it came down to the final seconds, when Anderson Bazile Jr. (Houston, Tex./San Antonio Reagan) connected on a three-pointer to give the Eagles a one point lead with :32 on the clock. Bazile was fouled and made one free throw attempt to extend the lead to two. With time expiring, Hamline's last second three-point attempt was no good.
 
Anderson Bazile Jr. (Houston, Tex./San Antonio Reagan) led the Eagles offensively scoring 20 points on three of five shooting from beyond the arc and five of six from the line. Nine of his points came in overtime.
 
Johnny Erickson (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy), Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) and Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) also posted double-digit scoring totals. Erickson and Moore each finished with 15 points, while Youngberg added 11 and a team-best seven rebounds.
 
Caleb Hageman (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City), Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) and Brady Peterson (Princeton, Minn./Homeschool) each dished out four assists.
 
Northwestern will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 17 when they travel to St. Peter, Minn. to take on Gustavus Adolphus. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. Follow the Eagles online this season at www.unweagle.com or on Twitter at @unwmbb.