ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team welcomed Martin Luther College to the Ericksen Center for a Saturday afternoon UMAC tilt. The Eagles ended the first half on a 16-2 run and carried the momentum to a 101-79 final. Productive games from Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) and Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) propelled the UNW efforts.
 
Northwestern wins their 10th straight to improve to 16-6 this season and 12-1 in the UMAC to remain atop the league standings. The Knights fall to 4-17 overall, 1-12 in conference play.
 
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) got off to a strong start – scoring 12 points in the opening seven minutes to give UNW a 23-14 edge. The Knights responded with a 6-0 run to pull within three points and continued to battle with the Eagles.
 
With just a two-point edge with five minutes remaining in the half, a bucket in the paint from Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) followed by a three-ball from Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) put UNW up, 44-33. The momentum continued to roll in the Eagle's favor, capitalized by a steal and fastbreak layup from Johnny Erickson (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) and a layup from Youngberg to end the half, 53-35.
 
Youngberg put together a monstrous opening 20 minutes on his senior night. The forward shot eight of 10 from the field and pulled down eight boards (six offensive) to finish with 19 points. Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) added 14 first-half points along with six rebounds.
 
Second half play started much of the same, with Kaemingk scoring two quick buckets. In a physical half, the Eagles got to the line 25 times, capitalizing on 16 attempts. Northwestern scored 50 points in the paint and outrebounded MLC by 10.
 
UNW hit the 100 point mark on a three-ball from Kit Piepkorn (St. Paul, Minn./Christ's Household of Faith). Four Eagles scored in double figures led by Kaemingk with 25. The sophomore added 12 rebounds to secure a double-double.
 
Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) tacked on 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the win. Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) added 14 points, while Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) finished with 13. Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) finished with seven points and a team-best 10 assists.
 
Brady Peterson (Princeton, Minn./Homeschool) and Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) were honored prior to Saturday's start. Collectively, the seniors have won 72 games, scored 1,524 combined points and pulled down 933 rebounds. Several career-highlights have been achieved along the way including: Youngberg scoring his 1,000th point on December 11th this season, Youngberg becoming UNW's all-time leading offensive rebounder last week, Brady Peterson (Princeton, Minn./Homeschool) earning the 2019 UMAC Tournament Most Valuable Player nod and the Eagles defeating no. 9 Saint John's in last year's NCAA Tournament first round.
 
UNW will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 12 when they welcome Bethany Lutheran to the Ericksen Center. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow UNW men's basketball online all season long at www.unweagles.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @unweagles.