MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team made the short trip to North Central University for a Saturday afternoon UMAC tilt. Despite a second-half run by the Rams that cut the UNW lead to two (68-66), the Eagles scored 17 points in the final 5 minutes to secure the conference win.
 
Northwestern improves to 10-6 overall and 6-1 in the UMAC, while North Central falls to 3-13 this season, 1-6 in conference play. The Eagles have downed the Rams in 78 of the teams' 92 meetings, today's win marking their ninth straight.
 
The duo of freshmen starters, Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) and Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) got UNW off to a strong start by putting up five quick points. Despite North Central coming back to tie it up, Northwestern would never trail. After leading by as much as 13 following a three-ball from Bach, the Eagles would enter the half up by eight (48-40).
 
UNW came out of the break to put together their largest lead of the contest (15) on a layup from Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area). In under four minutes, North Central would cut the lead to just two points before the Eagles kicked it back in gear.
 
Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) put together another strong offensive performance, finishing with a team-best 22 points. Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) tacked on his eight double-double of the year after dropping in 16 points and 13 rebounds. Youngberg recently became Northwestern's all-time leader in career offensive boards, breaking Daniel Hanson's record set in 2008.
 
Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown), Brady Peterson (Princeton, Minn./Homeschool) and Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) rounded out the rest of the five UNW players who finished with double-digit scoring. Bach added 14 points, Peterson had 12 and Kaemingk tacked on 11 points, 4 assists.
 
The Eagles shot 28 free throws in the second half, connecting on 22 of them. They dominated the glass, pulling down 41 rebounds to North Central's 23.
 
UNW will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 22 when they welcome UW-Superior to the Ericksen Center. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. against the Yellowjackets, who enter the match-up with a perfect 6-0 mark in the UMAC.
 
Follow Northwestern men's basketball online this season at www.unweagles.com or on Instagram and Twitter at @unwmbb.