ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Northwestern men's basketball team hosted the Cougars of Minnesota Morris on Friday night. The Eagles took the contest comfortably by a final score of 97-63, improving their overall record to 15-5 and staying undefeated in the UMAC with a 9-0 record.
Caleb Waldeck (Newhall, Calif./Hart High) got the scoring going with a three pointer from the top of the arc while some hot shooting from the Eagles started to build up a sizable lead. Northwestern never found a huge run, but as the half went on it seemed like any point scored by UMM would be responded to with more points for UNW.
The biggest lead of the half for the Eagles came with a little more than two and a half minutes left as
Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) drained his third three and
Micah Pocernich (Cromwell, Minn./Cromwell-Wright) followed by finding a jumpshot to extend the lead to 22. Morris finished the half on a 5-0 run to cut their deficit to 17 as Northwestern led 49-32 heading into the lockers.
Northwestern was on fire in the first half. They shot 48.7 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from the arc, and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. Much like the women's team, the men's team was winning the battle on the boards as they brought down 26 to UMM's 18. Eight offensive boards resulted in 13 second chance points for the Eagles.
Morris scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to 13, but this would be the closest they would get before the Eagles turned on the jets and ran away with the game. Northwestern came away with the victory with a final score of 97-63.
UNW finished the game shooting 49.4 percent overall, while hitting 35.3 percent of their threes, and 75 percent from the charity stripe. They continued their dominance on the boards, winning the battle 53-37 as they added six more second chance points. The Eagles defense was dominant as they finished the game with seven steals and four blocks.
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) and
Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) lead the charge for the Eagles as they scored 24 and 22 a piece while Alm had a team leading five assists.
Andrew Koehler (Scandia, Minn./Chisago Lakes) was the third best scorer as he put in 10 points and led the team in rebounds with nine in 18 minutes of work..
The Eagles have a quick turnaround as they will be hosting another home game tomorrow against the Crown College Storm. The game will be at 4:45 p.m. in the Ericksen Center and it will be Hoops Hysteria. For all things UNW Men's Basketball, fans can follow along at www.unweagles.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @unwmbb.
