DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team traveled north on Saturday, in search of its first win of the 2024-25 campaign. Thanks to a tremendous shooting performance and a pair of double-doubles, the Eagles were able to find it, taking down former UMAC rival, College of St. Scholastica, by an 85-78 score.
Prior to the sharp shooting, Northwestern found itself in an early 14-4 hole. Seven points from
Caden Stevens (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) and three from
Soren Anderson (Perham, Minn./Perham) got the Eagles back within single digits, and a
Noah Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) layup made it 22-16 in favor of the Saints.
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) and
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) took turns knocking down a pair of three-pointers each to pull UNW within four at 32-28, then after a CSS layup, Northwestern took control. Anderson scored six points and Nyamari five as the visitors went on a 13-0 charge to close out the half. The pair had 11 points each at the break as UNW held a 41-34 advantage.
Northwestern continued to torch the Reif Gym nets as the second half commenced. Greene hit a three to open the scoring and Nyamari scored seven more points as the Eagles took their first double-digit lead at 53-43. After a quiet start offensively,
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) took over, scoring UNW's next six points to extend the lead to 11. Scholastica was able to trim the deficit to four on multiple occasions, but Frazell and Anderson combined for a 6-0 spurt to put Northwestern back ahead by double figures. The 6'9" Stevens answered a CSS three with one of his own to keep the lead at 10, then Anderson scored seven of Northwestern's final nine points to preserve the 85-78 win. The Eagles improved to 1-2 on the season and the Saints fell to 0-4 with the loss.
Anderson had a career day, notching his first collegiate double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds (five offensive), in addition to three assists. Nyamari poured in 18 points in an efficient shooting performance (7-11 FG, 4-5 3pt) to go along with four assists. Greene also dished out four assists and had an efficient shooting night himself, making all three of his attempts from behind the arc en route to 13 points. Stevens, a freshman, logged his first career double-double as well with 10 points and 10 boards. Burns and Frazell each chipped in eight points. As a team, UNW shot 53.8% from the field and 57.1% from three, in addition to dominating the paint (46-30).
The Eagles will play their next game a little closer to home, taking on Macalester College at 7:00 PM on Tuesday night.