ST. PAUL, Minn.- UNW Men's Basketball opened their season last weekend, but got their first opportunity to play in front of their home crowd on Wednesday night when they hosted Hamline for the home opener. The capacity crowd was rewarded with an exciting game as the Eagles won in the closing moments, 69-68.
The offenses from each side came out hot as it was a high scoring, back-and-forth affair in the first half. The Eagles entered the locker room with a slight 41-37 lead over the visiting Pipers. Each team shot well in the first half. The Eagles were 43% from the floor and made four threes at a 36% clip in the first half. The Pipers shot 42% from the floor in the first half, but it was their three point shooting specifically that kept them in the game early on. The Pipers were 7-14 from three point range in the first frame.
In the second half, things began to tighten up for each side. The defenses began to make their marks on the game, and the rims got a little bit smaller as each side struggled to make shots. The Eagles shot 38% from the floor, 11% from three, and 75% from the free throw line in the second half. Meanwhile the Pipers shot 35% from the floor, 35% from three, and 40% from the charity stripe in the second frame.
In the second half, it appeared as if the Eagles would run away with the contest. A
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) layup with 18 minutes remaining gave the Eagles a 47-39 lead. However, the Pipers would respond with an 8-0 run that tied the game with just under 16 minutes to go. From this point on, the game would remain tight.
Down the stretch, it was the visiting Pipers that took control. With just over two minutes remaining, Tait Nelson scored a big bucket for the Pipers to put them up five points with time running out. As the game entered the final minute, it was
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) who made two clutch free throws for the Eagles with 25 seconds remaining to cut the Piper lead to a single point. With 14 seconds remaining, the Pipers missed a free throw and
Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) came down with the strong rebound. The Eagles had the basketball trailing 68-67 with 14 seconds remaining.
Then enters
Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake). The senior pushes the ball up the court, drives hard to the right side, stops, and pops a beautiful pull up jump shot to give the Eagles the 69-68 lead with nine seconds remaining. The Pipers would miss a pull up jump shot of their own at the buzzer, and the Eagles escaped with a win in their home opener. The Eagles improved to 2-1 on the season.
The game winner was not
Noah Alm's (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) only highlight of the night. The Eagle guard had a remarkable double-double, scoring 35 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. It was a red hot offensive performance for Alm, who already holds the school's single game scoring record with 42 points in a game last season.
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) had 9 points and 4 rebounds, and
Caleb Waldeck (Newhall, Calif./Hart High) had 7 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds for the Eagles.
Northwestern is back in action on Saturday as they host another MIAC opponent inside the Ericksen Center. It will be a familiar foe for the Eagles as they square off against St. Scholastica, who as recently as last year was a UMAC rival of the Eagles. UNW and CSS have played each other in the UMAC Conference Tournament nine straight years, a streak that will end in 2022 as the Saints have left the conference. Tipoff for this rivalry game is at 5:00pm.
