NEW ULM, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball traveled to Martin Luther College on Saturday afternoon for their regular season finale. The Eagles soared to an 84-49 victory over the Knights to close out the regular season with a 14-11 overall record. In conference play, UNW finished 9-5 and locked in the #3 seed in the UMAC Tournament next week.
 
Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) had one of the most prolific rebounding games in the history of the Eagles' program on Saturday. The junior had 16 rebounds in the first half alone and finished with 20 boards in just 24 minutes on the court. His 20 rebounds are the third-most in a single game in program history, with only Joe Doran's 21 against Concordia-St. Paul in the 1988-89 season and Wayne Thomas' 24 against Pillsbury in 1973-74 surpassing him. Fahnbulleh's 20 rebounds is also the most an Eagle has had in a game since Peter Maring had 19 against St. Scholastica during the 2016-17 season.
 
In the win over the Knights, the Eagles never trailed after scoring the opening basket of the game. MLC got within one point with an early three-pointer to make it 7-6, but UNW proceeded to go an 8-0 run to get out of danger of giving up the lead.
 
UNW's defense was spectacular in the first half, holding the Knights to just 17 points on 18.8 percent (6-for-32) shooting from the field. At the same time, the Eagles' offense scored 45 points in the opening 20 minutes to take a 28-point lead into halftime.
 
In the second half, the Knights more than doubled their shooting success from the field and tripled their success from long range in comparison to the first, but Northwestern continued to score to prevent a rally. The Eagles twice built their lead all the way up to 43 points; first with a Ryan Schneider (Longmont, Colo./Longmont) three-pointer to go up 72-29 midway through the half and then again later on an Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) layup for a 76-33 lead with seven minutes left in the game.
 
Second chance points and points off of turnovers were key to the Eagles success as they combined to outscore the Knights 47-4 in those two categories. Fahnbulleh's historic rebounding night helped UNW outperform Martin Luther off the glass, grabbing 56 rebounds to MLC's 36, while outscoring the Knights 27-to-2 in second chance points. Northwestern led by a wide margin in points off of turnovers at a 20-to-2 mark.
 
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) led the Eagles with 20 points in the game. Schneider followed with 13 points, shooting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and 4-for-5 overall. Burns and Parker Behne (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) each scored 11 points for UNW.
 
Up next, #3 seed Northwestern open the UMAC Tournament on Wednesday, February 22 on the road at #2 seed University of Wisconsin-Superior. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. in the Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.