SUPERIOR, Wis. – With the season winding down and the University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team on the outside of the UMAC playoff picture, looking in,
Tim Grosz's squad needed a signature win to stay in the mix. The Eagles got just that, putting together a terrific second half to defeat second-place Wisconsin-Superior by a 55-45 score. The win was the fifth in a row for Northwestern, who improved to 13-8 overall this season and an even 5-5 in the UMAC after splitting the season series with Superior.
The home Yellowjackets sprinted out to a 5-0 lead, but UNW punched right back with an 8-0 spurt that featured spin moves from
Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) and
Caleb Hoilien (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) and a three-pointer from
Micah Pocernich (Cromwell, Minn./Cromwell-Wright), who was coming off a career night on Friday.
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) made back-to-back layups to even the score at 12, then a
Ryan Schneider (Longmont, Colo./Longmont) three tied things up at 15. The Eagles got back-to-back scores courtesy of offensive rebounds, one from Fahnbulleh and one from
Jeremiah LaVelle (Otsego, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy), to pull ahead, 19-17.
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley) broke a 19-19 tie with a shot clock-beating jumper, but the two teams went into the locker rooms tied at 22.
Northwestern came out firing in the second stanza. The Eagles went three straight possessions where they got a three from LaVelle, a post finish from Hoilien and a slashing Burns layup to open a 29-22 lead. Vincent nailed another pull-up jump shot, which was followed by another LaVelle three-pointer to give UNW its biggest lead to that point at 34-26. After a UWS basket, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run (five of which were via
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka)) to go up by double digits at 41-29.
The Yellowjackets didn't go away, scoring the next five points, but LaVelle answered the bell with his third triple of the second half to push the lead back to 10. With five minutes to go, Pocernich took the reins for UNW, making back-to-back driving layups to keep the Jackets at bay. A timely Vincent three and another Pocernich layup, off a beauty of a pass from
Andrew Koehler (Scandia, Minn./Chisago Lakes), sealed the deal for the Eagles as they picked up a massive, 55-45 road win.
In a game where scoring was hard to come by, Northwestern had two players finish in double figures, although all but one Eagle who saw action scored. LaVelle led the team with 12 points, making three of his five three-point attempts. Burns was stellar off the bench, racking up 10 points down low. Pocernich finished with nine points, six of which came down the stretch when UNW needed a bucket to stave off a UWS comeback. Vincent tallied eight points and seven rebounds, while Nyamari and Koehler also grabbed seven boards. Koehler added two assists, as did Fahnbulleh.
The Eagles' five-game winning streak is the second-longest active winning streak in the UMAC. The only team with a longer streak is Bethany Lutheran (11 games), who Northwestern will welcome to the Ericksen Center on Friday, February 9
th. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 PM, following the conclusion of the women's game.
