ST. PAUL, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball's homestand continued Wednesday night in the Ericksen Center, as the Eagles squared off with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire out of the WIAC. The Blugolds entered the game on a five-game winning streak, with the two most recent wins coming over UMAC foes Crown and UW-Superior. They were able to make it three straight over the UMAC after defeating Northwestern, 76-58, thanks to a dominant closing stretch in the first half.
UNW got on the board first via an
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) driving layup, who would wind up sitting out most of the first half after picking up two quick fouls. An
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) layup and a
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) floater kept the Eagles in front, 6-5, but Eau Claire scored the next seven to seize control. Trailing 12-6, Northwestern would go on to score on seven consecutive possessions.
Caden Stevens (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista), fresh off a career-high 26 points on Saturday, scored seven points in that stretch and
Soren Anderson (Perham, Minn./Perham) four, but UWEC was able to nearly match UNW shot-for-shot, and kept a 25-21 advantage. Greene cut the lead to 27-24 with a three-pointer, and a fadeaway jumper by Nyamari ended a 6-0 UW-Eau Claire run, but the visitors would close the first half with a 13-0 surge to take a 46-26 lead into the break. Eau Claire shot 60% from the field and 54.5% from deep in the first half compared to 33.3% and 14.3%, respectively, by Northwestern.
After an early free throw by the Blugolds, Nyamari scored the half's first field goal on a pull-up jumper. Greene stole a pass under the hoop and laid it in, then Nyamari drilled a three on the following possession to trim the deficit to 17 at 50-33. Another Greene three and a
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley) pull-up kept it at 17, as did a Stevens jumper moments later. Stevens scored again a couple minutes later, then assisted a
Lewis Wolbert (Milaca, Minn./Milaca) layup after a couple offensive rebounds by the hosts. Wolbert and Stevens each scored four more points down the stretch before layups by Anderson and Burns finished things out. Eau Claire came away with a 76-58 win when all was said and done, despite the Eagles out-scoring their opponents in the second half.
Stevens paced UNW scoring-wise for the second consecutive game with 15 points, adding seven rebounds, three assists and a jaw-dropping five blocks. Greene finished with 12 points, five boards and two steals, while Nyamari contributed nine points. Anderson scored eight points and collected 11 rebounds, and Vincent chipped in a pair of steals.
Northwestern will conclude its three-game homestand Saturday at 3:00 PM when it takes on Carleton College.
