ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team welcomed Crown College to the Ericksen Center for Wednesday night UMAC action. The Eagles, who fell to the Storm earlier this season, battled for 40 straight minutes on the hunt for redemption. Northwestern accomplished just that, defeating Crown to secure their seventh straight win with a 95-87 hard fought victory.
 
After battling from behind to start the contest, a Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) three-pointer gave UNW a 37-34 lead with just over four minutes remaining. Crown answered with a three-ball of its own, but Alm knocked down another on the following possession to make it 43-40. The sophomore guard finished with 17 in the first half, propelling UNW to a 52-44 advantage, the Eagles largest lead at that point.
 
Northwestern continued to groove, going up by 10 on a layup from Brady Bellefeuille (Frazee, Minn./Frazee) to start second half action. Crown came storming back, cutting the lead to six with 10 minutes remaining.
 
A dynamic scoring streak in the next two minutes gave Northwestern a 78-65 advantage. The Storm didn't make it easy, keeping the deficit within four points down to the final buzzer before being forced to foul.
 
UNW held the conference's scoring leader, Tim Wendel to just 13 points on the night. The Eagles committed just six turnovers in the contest, while Crown recorded 12.
 
It was another night of balanced scoring for Northwestern with five players scoring in double-figures. Johnny Erickson (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) led the way with 20 points, scoring crucial buckets in a second half stretch.
 
Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) and Caleb Hageman (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) each added 19 points, while Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) tacked on 15. Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) recorded yet another double-double (his eleventh this season) after finishing with 10 points and 10 boards.
 
Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) dished out seven assists, and sits in second in the UMAC with 82 on the year. He leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 2.5.
 
With the win, Northwestern improves to 13-6 overall, 9-1 in the UMAC. They improve the all-time head to head record against Crown to 74-7 as the Storm falls to 11-7 overall, 5-4 in conference play this season.
 
Northwestern will return to action on Wednesday, January 30 when they travel to Mankato, Minn. to take on Bethany Lutheran College. The Knights enter the match-up tied with Northwestern at the top of the conference standings at 14-5 overall and 9-1 mark in the UMAC. Follow the game live via live stats and live video.