ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Northwestern men's basketball team looked to bounce back after a tough loss by taking on one of their conference opponents in the Rams of North Central University. The Eagles found their step once again as they took the victory 88-71, improving their overall record to 14-5, and keeping their UMAC record a perfect 8-0.
The Rams found the first bucket of the game before the Eagles collected some free throws and buckets to jump ahead to an 8-3 lead three and a half minutes into the game. After a couple of lead changes, Northwestern found themselves ahead by 10 with a little less than nine minutes left in the half. NCU would not go away quietly, constantly cutting into the lead that UNW built. It was a two point game before Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) started to take over as the senior single handedly scored the final eight points in the half for the Eagles. It was looking like a six point lead going into half before a buzzer beater three pointer by North Central cut the lead in half. The score at halftime was 38-35 in favor of UNW.
Both teams were hot throughout the first half. Northwestern shot 43.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. A big emphasis for the Eagles was their rebound game, outrebounding the Rams 23-17, including six offensive rebounds that resulted in nine second chance points.
It was a tightly contested second half as the Eagle's lead did not exceed double digits in the first six minutes until Micah Pocernich (Cromwell, Minn./Cromwell-Wright) sank a three to put UNW up by 11 points, 52-41. The Rams responded with fire as they cut the deficit down to four points with 11 minutes to go in the half. Northwestern once again built their lead up, this time around, they would not see it fall below eight points as they closed the game out winning 88-71.
UNW finished the game shooting 49.2 percent overall, while hitting 38.5 percent of their threes, and 78.3 percent from the charity stripe. They continued their dominance on the boards, winning the battle 40-28 as they added six more second chance points. The Eagles defense would also not falter as they came away with five steals and four blocks.
Leading the charge for Northwestern was their leading scorer, Alm, who put away 25 points while Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) continued his scoring ways with 16 points and a team-leading four assists. Pocernich tied his career high in points, scoring 13 off the bench, including 2-for-3 from the three point line while Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) grabbed himself a double-double with 12 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.
The Eagles will be back in action next month on Friday, February 4. They will host the Cougars of the University of Minnesota Morris in the Ericksen Center at 7:15 p.m. For all things UNW Men's Basketball, fans can follow along at www.unweagles.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @unwmbb.
