ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's hoops team welcomed Minnesota Morris to the Ericksen Center for a Wednesday night UMAC tilt. The Eagles scored 43 points off of turnovers and second chance points to edge the Cougars, 96-86 in final scoring.
 
Northwestern leads the all-time series with Morris, 32-12 and have won the last 14 straight. UNW improves to 9-6 on the year and 5-1 in conference action. The Cougars fall to 4-10 this season, 1-5 in the UMAC.
 
While Morris led for just under three minutes in first half action, UNW pulled ahead by six (18-12) following a long ball from Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown). Northwestern's largest first half lead (10) came with 3:34 remaining. Senior Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) made a big impact in the opening 20 minutes, scoring nine points and pulling down eight boards. Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) and Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) each poured in 10 first half points.
 
The Eagles were dominant in the opening four minutes of second half play (going up by a game-best 17 points) before Morris responded with a 9-0 run. Both teams continued to battle as Northwestern held just a six point advantage at the 8:30 mark. The Eagles went back up by 10 on a three from Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) and the sophomore quickly drained another shot from long range. Kaemingk finished with a season-best 19 points and seven rebounds after making four of seven shots from three-point land.
 
Youngberg put together another dominant performance for UNW, leading the team with 25 points and 12 rebounds (his 7th double-double this season). Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) added 20 on the night, while tacking on four steals. Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) was the fourth and final Eagle to score in double-figures, finishing with 13 points after draining all six attempts from the line. Alm pulled down 10 boards in the win.
 
Northwestern got to the line 23 times in the contest to Morris's nine and edged the Cougars in the rebounding battle, 37-31.
 
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 when they make the short trip to Minneapolis. Tipoff vs. North Central is slated for 3 p.m. in the teams' first meeting this season.
 
Follow UNW men's basketball all season long on www.unweagles.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @unwmbb.