ST. PAUL, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball hosted their first game of 2023 on Saturday, taking on North Central University for a conference contest in the Ericksen Center. While both teams overall shooting percentages for the game were within two points of each other (NCU's 37.7 percent to UNW's 36.1 percent), the Rams 45.0 percent three-point shooting (9-for-20) helped power them to a 64-54 win over the Eagles, who shot 14.3 percent (3-for-21) from beyond the arc.
 
In the opening half, North Central had a 20-15 lead that Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) cut down to 20-17 with a fastbreak layup. The Rams then scored nine in a row to go up 29-17, leading by 12 points. The Eagles battled back to get within four down 30-26, but an NCU three-pointer in the final minute gave North Central a 33-26 lead at the half.
 
The second half saw the Rams go up 44-31 early in the period, pushing their lead up to 13 points. Northwestern started to rally back and slowly chipped away into NCU's lead until a pair of free-throws by Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) set the score at 57-54, with the Rams leading by just three points with 3:20 remaining in the game. North Central would make a three to go up 60-54 with 2:13 remaining, and made their free-throws down the stretch to take the game 64-54.
 
Fahnbulleh led the Eagles with 21 points, shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 1-for-2 from three-point range. Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) had a team-high 11 rebounds and scored nine points. Caleb Hoilien (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) scored 12 points and had three blocks on defense.
 
Up next, Northwestern will host Martin Luther College for a conference home game next Friday, January 13, at 5:30 P.M. in the Ericksen Center.