ST. PAUL, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball hosted Martin Luther College on Friday night for a conference contest in the Ericksen Center. The Eagles soared to a 89-57 victory, highlighted by a career-high 33-point night for
Caleb Hoilien (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy).
The opening minutes of the game were closely contested, with Martin Luther taking a 10-9 lead five and a half minutes in. The Eagles then went up 11-10 on a
Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) jumper and never lost the lead again. Northwestern took a double-digit lead with a
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) three-pointer with 6:15 left in the opening half, going up 31-19. Hoilien hit a jumper off an inbound with just one second on the clock at the end of the first half to put UNW up 47-28, increasing their lead to 19 points.
The Eagles continued their success in the second half. Martin Luther cut their deficit down to 16 points with a fastbreak layup to make it 60-44 with 12:41 remaining, but UNW would prevent the Knights from getting any closer. Northwestern's lead peaked at 35 points when
Jace Kornstad (Nikiski, Alaska/Nikiski) hit a three-pointer in the final two minutes to put the Eagles up 89-54. The Knights would make two more baskets down the stretch, but UNW took the conference victory to improve to 2-2 in the UMAC.
Northwestern shot 50.0 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc. Martin Luther made 35.8 percent of their shots and 16.7 percent from three-point range. The Eagles success from long range proved critical, as UNW made 13-of-35 while MLC went 3-of-18 from downtown.
Hoilien led UNW with 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting, adding eight rebounds, two assists, and a block.
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) had a double-double for the Eagles, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 boards.
Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) had a team-high four assists for Northwestern and scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.
Up next, Northwestern will host Bethany Lutheran College for a conference home game on Saturday, January 14, at 3:00 P.M. in the Ericksen Center.
