NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team may have experienced some déjà vu on Wednesday night. Coming in with plenty of momentum—this year thanks to a 2-0 start in conference play, last year thanks to a 7-0 start to the season—Northwestern was stunned by Martin Luther College on the Knights' home floor, mirroring what took place in the Luther Student Center just over one year ago, after a 34-game winning streak against MLC that dated back to 2008. The present-day Knights are much improved over teams of years past, which was evident in New Ulm on Wednesday night as they nearly led from start to finish in an 82-72 win over UNW.
The Eagles' only time in the lead came right off the bat when
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) scored Northwestern's first two baskets to go up 2-0 and 5-3. The home team countered with an 8-0 run before
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) went on a personal 4-0 spurt to shrink MLC's lead to 11-9. Martin Luther again went streaking, this time 6-0, before a
Caden Stevens (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) step-through move cut it to 17-11. Greene continued his strong opening half with a three-pointer, then
Soren Anderson (Perham, Minn./Perham) scored down low on back-to-back possessions to trim the deficit to five at 23-18. The Knights continued to make runs every time UNW got close, going ahead 28-18 before a
Lewis Wolbert (Milaca, Minn./Milaca) floater and a
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) three got it back to five.
Greene kept trying to will Northwestern back into the game, making a pair of free throws before immediately poking the ball away from a Knight and converting an easy layup on the other end with five minutes left to pull within six at 33-27. MLC was able to push the lead back to double digits before a Burns layup and a turnaround, fadeaway jumper by Greene got UNW within eight. The Eagles were able to close out the first half with some momentum, getting two points each from Stevens, Greene and Wolbert to head into the locker room trailing, 43-37.
Northwestern opened the second half with a clear emphasis on trying to score inside. The first three UNW possessions of the frame consisted of four Anderson points and two from Greene, all in the paint, to make it a two-point game. Martin Luther turned it on after that, scoring the next eight points before Anderson scored inside again to get back within single digits at 53-45. Shortly after, the sophomore forward scored again after collecting an offensive rebound, which was followed by a
Noah Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) pull-up three in transition to trim the deficit to five on the Eagles' next trip. Unfortunately, another 8-0 MLC run ensued before a Wolbert scoop and score and a Nyamari pull-up jumper made it 66-54 in favor of the hosts.
The Eagles desperately tried to scrap together a run to get back in the game, but every time they scored, MLC had an answer (or multiple answers). Frazell appeared to give UNW a much-needed shot in the arm with a four-point play with 8:34 remaining, and Anderson scored Northwestern's next six points; unfortunately, the deficit was still 10 as the Eagles struggled to string stops together on the defensive end. UNW tried for one last push with under four minutes to go, as Nyamari scored four points in 32 seconds after a quick steal by Greene and Greene himself turned an offensive rebound into points, but they were never able to get closer than nine points down the stretch. Martin Luther prevailed by an 82-72 score thanks to a 40% effort from three (10-25) and an 80% effort from the free throw line (20-25). The Knights shut down Northwestern's shooting attempts as well, holding the Eagles to 21.7% from deep (5-23) and 63.6% from the line on just 11 attempts.
Greene led UNW in scoring with 22 points, adding six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Anderson logged his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds (five offensive) on 9-12 shooting. Nyamari contributed nine points and two steals, while Frazell scored seven points in just 12 minutes. Burns and Stevens each pulled down five rebounds, with the latter adding two steals as well.
Northwestern will be on the road again Saturday, taking on Minnesota Morris at 2:00 PM. The game can be streamed on the UMAC Sports Network.
