COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team hit the court at Sexton Arena to take on Saint John's University in first round NCAA tournament action. The Johnnies, who came in at no. 8 in the final D3hoops top 25 poll, entered the match-up as the nation's leader in rebounding margin and shooting percentage. The Eagles outrebounded and outshot the Johnnies to roll to a 93-78 first round upset. It was SJU's first loss on their home court this season and the Eagles 16th straight win.
 
Saint John's was first to score, but the Eagles responded with nine straight points – five coming from UNW's leading scorer, Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area). The Eagles never trailed again.
 
Northwestern continued to apply the offensive pressure as Brady Bellefeuille (Frazee, Minn./Frazee) and Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) knocked down shots from beyond the arc to go up 20-11 and force an SJU time out.
 
A streak of Northwestern fouls allowed the Johnnies to pull within one point (26-25) with just over eight on the clock. A scoreless minute came to a close on an Anderson Bazile Jr. (Houston, Tex./San Antonio Reagan) baseline jumper. Johnny Erickson (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) followed suit, getting in the paint to put UNW up five, followed by a drive and dish to Bazile to complete the 6-0 run.

After a series of back and forth scoring, Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) did what he does best by knocking down a shot from beyond the arc with under a minute remaining. Despite a buzzer beater three by the Johnnies, the Eagles entered the half up 39-35. Northwestern connected on 47% of shots from the field, while SJU suffered from just 35% shooting in first half action.

Senior Brady Bellefeuille (Frazee, Minn./Frazee) propelled the Eagles to a strong second half start – scoring five points in the first two and a half minutes. The UNW momentum kept pace as three-pointers from Bellefeuille and Alm gave Northwestern a dominant 15 point lead with 13 minutes remaining.
 
The Johnnies went cold, shooting just 33% from the three as UNW held on to a major lead and increased it to 18 on a Caleb Hageman (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) three-pointer with 5:30 to go.
 
Thirteen players saw action as the Eagles rolled to a 93-76 upset over Saint John's to advance to the second round.
 
It was another night of balanced scoring for the Eagles, featuring five players with double-figures. Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) led the way after putting together a dominant second half. The junior finished with 21 points on nine of 12 shooting.
 
Caleb Hageman (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) poured in 18 points, while Alm and Bellefeuille shot lights out to finish with 15 and 13, respectively. Anderson Bazile Jr. (Houston, Tex./San Antonio Reagan) dropped in 10 on the night.
 
The Eagles bested SJU in field goal makes by 12% and out-rebounded the Johnnies, 42-35. Tonight's contest marked Northwestern's eighth NCAA tournament appearance in the past nine years led by Head Coach Tim Grosz.
 
Northwestern is right back at it tomorrow for second round NCAA tournament action. Tipoff vs. No. 4 UW-Oshkosh is slated for 7 p.m. at Sexton Arena. The Titans enter the match-up with a 24-3 overall record after defeating Lake Forest, 86-62 in first round action.
 
Follow the action tomorrow online HERE or track the action on Twitter and Instagram at @unweagles.