MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team made the short trip to Minneapolis for a showdown with Augsburg University that doubled as both the Eagles' final game of 2024 and their final non-conference game of the regular season. The two squads battled it out in a tight game most of the way, but Northwestern was able to pull away late thanks to some hot shooting against Augsburg's zone defense for an 85-77 win.
UNW got out of the gates hot, as
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka),
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) and
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) teamed up for a 6-0 run to open the night.
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley) scored his first two points of the night to make it 8-5, then Nyamari hit his first of three three-pointers in the first half to extend Northwestern's lead to 11-7. The junior's second triple broke an 11-11 tie, and his third capped off a 7-0 Eagles run to put them ahead, 22-16. The Auggies were able to inch ahead, 26-25, but
Caden Stevens (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) put UNW back in front with a three-pointer.
Greene and
Lewis Wolbert (Milaca, Minn./Milaca) both made jump shots to push the lead to 32-26 with 6:11 remaining in the first half. Augsburg responded with an 8-0 run to steal the lead back, but a Burns layup and a Greene three gave Northwestern the lead back, 37-34. Another Burns layup gave the Eagles a 39-38 edge, but an Anderson free throw and a Greene jumper were required for UNW to tie the game at 42-apiece heading into halftime.
The opening minutes of the second half were a back-and-forth affair as well. Back-to-back Anderson buckets tied the game at 46, then an 8-0 run moments later via Nyamari, Anderson, Greene and Wolbert put Northwestern in control, 54-48. The Auggies were able to pull within one, but Stevens made a timely jumper to make the cushion three points. The hosts tied it back up at 56, but
Noah Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) buried a trey that started a big run for UNW. After Augsburg tied it again at 59, the Eagles began torching the zone defense the Auggies had recently switched to. Frazell made all three free throws after being fouled behind the arc, Greene and Vincent both knocked down threes, and Stevens hit a pair of free throws that made the spurt 11-0 in favor of the visitors and gave them a 70-59 lead with 6:43 left.
A great high-low delivery from Stevens to Burns kept Northwestern's lead at 11 for a moment, but the Auggies went on an 8-2 run to pull within five with 3:21 remaining. Greene drilled a massive three-pointer after a kick-out from Anderson to stop the bleeding, and Burns scored inside with 1:39 left to make the lead six. Back-to-back layups by Greene and Burns all but sealed it, giving UNW a 10-point advantage with 40 seconds left, and free throws helped the Eagles finish off an 85-77 victory as they head into Christmas break.
Greene led all scorers with a career-high 20 points, adding four steals as well. Nyamari scored 14 and pulled down four rebounds, while Burns tallied 13 points on 6-7 shooting. Anderson finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and Wolbert had eight points and four boards. Stevens, who was named UMAC Player of the Week earlier in the day, tallied eight points, four assists and three blocks.
Noah Deedrick (Rochester, Minn./Century) grabbed five rebounds as well, while Vincent dished out four assists.
Northwestern will have a long break before opening up UMAC play on Wednesday, January 8
th at home versus Bethany Lutheran. Tip-off for the men's-women's doubleheader is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
