LINCOLN, Neb. – The University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team wrapped up play at Nebraska Wesleyan's Snyder Classic on Saturday with another tough opponent. Northwestern took on Central College, who defeated the Eagles 87-73 in St. Paul a year ago. The 2024 edition was a much more competitive bout, but resulted with another Central win, this time by an 84-76 score.
Soren Anderson (Perham, Minn./Perham) scored the first points of the game and UNW played good early defense on Central's 6'10" All-American center, Joshua Van Gorp. Despite frustrating Van Gorp, Northwestern wasn't able to get much going offensively themselves.
Caden Stevens (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) knocked down a jumper to cut the Dutch's lead to 7-4, and a
Lewis Wolbert (Milaca, Minn./Milaca) floater made it 11-6.
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) drilled UNW's first three-pointer of the day, then jumpers by
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) and
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley), to go along with three Anderson free throws, kept the Eagles within five at 22-17. Stevens buried a three with 5:23 remaining in the first half to pull within four, then made a layup, which was followed by four Wolbert points and two from Greene, to trim the deficit to just a point at 29-28. At the half, Central led 34-30.
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), who was held scoreless in the opening 20, made an acrobatic and-one to bring Northwestern back within three at 38-35, early in the second half. The Dutch were able to open up a 57-43 advantage and appeared to be well on their way to an easy win, but a gorgeous high-low feed from Stevens to Anderson for two points gave UNW some life. Burns converted an and-one of his own to get within 11, then Anderson scored a fastbreak layup after a steal to make it a single-digit game at 61-52. A Burns pick-and-pop three and another strong drive from Anderson brought it to eight, but Central was able to respond and extend its lead to double digits.
Anderson continued to fight back, following up a three-pointer with back-to-back layups to make it an eight-point game once again. Five straight points from the Dutch once again put them ahead by double figures, but Burns and Anderson teamed up for a four-point possession to get it back to nine at 79-70. Things got interesting when Nyamari hit threes on consecutive possessions to pull within five at 81-76, but that was as close as the Eagles would get in their comeback effort. Central was able to prevail, 84-76.
Anderson's 21 points (8-11 FG), eight rebounds and three steals paced Northwestern, followed by Burns's 15 points, five boards and two steals. Nyamari and Stevens each finished with 11 points, with the latter adding seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Greene had eight points and three assists, while Wolbert tallied eight rebounds. After averaging 16.5 points and six rebounds per game on 81.3% shooting over the two-day tournament, Anderson was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the Nebraska Wesleyan-Concordia game on Saturday evening.
UNW will return home to square off with Maranatha Baptist next Saturday, December 7
th as part of a women's-men's doubleheader between the two schools. Tip-off for the men's game is scheduled for 4:00 PM in the Ericksen Center and can be streamed on the Eagle Sports Network, an affiliate of the UMAC Sports Network.
