ST. PAUL, Minn. – For years, the premier basketball rivalry in the UMAC was Northwestern versus St. Scholastica. The matchup delivered classic after classic until the Saints left for the MIAC. While the two schools no longer play a home-and-home each season, they have kept the rivalry afloat with non-conference games in each of the last two years. CSS got the best of the Eagles last season, but Saturday at the Ericksen Center, Northwestern started strong and finished strong, getting its revenge in the form of a 77-57 win.
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), coming off his first career double-digit scoring game on Thursday night, stayed hot offensively. The sophomore hit two three-pointers and had eight quick points for UNW.
Jeremiah Lavelle (Otsego, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) came off the bench to add a quick six, including four free throws on four attempts, before being taken out due to foul trouble.
Northwestern stretched its lead to 22-12 on a nifty reverse layup by
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley), and soon after,
Caleb Hoilien (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) drilled a three to extend the lead to 12. Vincent added a triple of his own to put UNW ahead 34-21, which was followed by an
Andrew Koehler (Scandia, Minn./Chisago Lakes) offensive rebound and putback off of a Vincent miss. The highlight of the first half came shortly after, when the big man Koehler stole a pass, went coast-to-coast and euro-stepped around the St. Scholastica defense to put the Eagles ahead 41-23 heading into the break. Strong rebounding from
Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) and
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area), as well as nine points from Hoilien and eight from Nyamari, were the difference in the first half.
The Saints wouldn't go down without a fight, though. They opened the second half on a 7-0 scoring run before Nyamari knocked down a corner three off of some ball reversals that would make Gregg Popovich blush, to halt the momentum. The halting would be brief, however, as St. Scholastica turned up the defensive pressure and chipped away at UNW's lead. The Saints pulled within five at 52-47, but Hoilien answered back with a timely three. With the Eagles leading 64-54, Hoilien misfired from beyond the arc, but Burns collected yet another offensive rebound and handed it right back off to a back-cutting Hoilien for an easy layup. From that point forward, it was all Northwestern. The Eagles ended the game on a 22-7 run to win 77-57, thanks in large part to some impressive free throw shooting. UNW went 13-14 from the stripe in the contest.
Hoilien had a phenomenal game, shooting 60% from the field on 15 attempts en route to 21 points. Nyamari finished with 14 points and two assists while making all four of his attempts from deep. Burns was everywhere for UNW, tallying 10 points, six rebounds and three assists while going a perfect six-for-six from the free throw line. Lavelle finished with eight points and seven boards, while Fahnbulleh added eight points, five rebounds and two assists.
Parker Behne (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) had another solid all-around game, logging seven points, five rebounds and five assists.
Next up for Northwestern will be its shortest road trip of the season, as the Eagles will square off with net-door neighbor Bethel on Tuesday night. Tip-off at Bethel is set for 7:00 PM.
