MORRIS, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball traveled to the University of Minnesota Morris on Friday afternoon for a conference road game. The Eagles and Cougars both entered the game 5-3 in the UMAC, tied for third in the conference standings. Northwestern and Morris both had tremendous nights of shooting in the critical conference contest, but a fast start for the Eagles gave them the edge in a 91-86 victory for UNW.
 
In a game with such fantastic offensive numbers, the lead remarkably never changed once. The Eagles scored the first six points of the game to take an initial lead they would never lose. UM-Morris made a layup to get on the board and cut Northwestern's lead down to four, but the Eagles offense carried them ahead to go up by as many as 13 points in the opening half.
 
Morris threatened to surpass UNW early in the second half as they once again cut the Eagles' lead down to four points, trailing 45-41. Northwestern would break away once more, retaking a double-digit lead within the next three minutes. The Eagles' lead peaked at 17 points, up 75-58 with 10:35 remaining. The Cougars continued to fight and make baskets down the stretch, but the Eagles shots sailed true too to stay ahead of Morris en route to a critical conference road win.
 
With the win, the Eagles took sole possession of third place in the UMAC at 6-3; just one game behind 7-2 Wisconsin Superior and two behind 8-1 Bethany Lutheran with five games remaining. Northwestern remains the only UMAC team to defeat the conference-leading Vikings, winning 83-79 at home in the Ericksen Center back on January 13.
 
The Eagles shot 48.5 percent (32-for-66) for the field and 48.0 percent (12-for-25) from three-point range in the game. Though they fell, the Cougars were even more efficient than the Eagles in the game, shooting 51.7 percent (31-for-60) overall and 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from beyond the arc.
 
The Cougars had a 7-0 edge over the Eagles in fast break points during the game, but Northwestern had a 15-3 edge in points off of turnovers. UNW only had four turnovers in the game while UMM had 10.
 
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) led the Eagles with a 30-point performance, making 7-of 16 from the field, 2-of-8 from three-point range, and 14-of 16 at the line. Caleb Hoilien (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) followed with 18 points, shooting 8-for-14 from the floor. Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) had 16 rebounds to set his single game career high to go with 14 points for a double-double.
 
Up next, Northwestern will travel to St. Bonifacius to take on the Crown College Polars in a road conference battle at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday, February 4. The Eagles will next play at home on February 10.