ST. PAUL, Minn. – To say Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play began in electric fashion would be an understatement. The University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team drew defending conference champion Bethany Lutheran College on the first night of UMAC action, but the young Eagles were up for the task. In a tight, physical game from start to finish, Northwestern was able to close the game out in its home gym by a 91-82 score.
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) kicked off the scoring with a backdoor layup off a feed from
Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area), then
Soren Anderson (Perham, Minn./Perham) got on the board on the following possession to make it 4-2, Eagles.
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) knocked down a mid-range jump shot to once again move in front, but Bethany Lutheran was able to edge back ahead for a good stretch. Greene scored five points and
Lewis Wolbert (Milaca, Minn./Milaca) four, but the Vikings still held an 18-15 advantage. UNW then went on an 11-3 run to storm back in front with 7:20 remaining in the first half. A tip-in by Anderson kick-started the surge before Northwestern's trio of freshman finished it off. Wolbert scored four points,
Noah Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) three and
Caden Stevens (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) two.
Bethany was able to regain the lead thanks to a 9-1 run, but an Anderson layup kept the Eagles within one. Back-to-back layups by Greene and Burns made it 33-32 in favor of UNW, and a Nyamari triple extended the lead to four. BLC was able to score the final bucket of the half to make it 36-34 in favor of the home team at intermission.
After Bethany Lutheran tied it up on the opening possession of the second half, Greene responded with an and-one to go back up by three. After briefly losing the lead, Burns nailed a three-pointer to take it back. A 10-0 Vikings run ensued, but Wolbert was able to stop the bleeding with a pull-up jumper to make it 50-44. Greene hit a three on the following possession to pull within five, and a Burns layup just over a minute later kept the deficit at five. That layup would also end up being the first domino to fall in a 9-0 Northwestern run that ignited the Ericksen Center crowd and put the Eagles back in front. Frazell scored six points in the run and Nyamari four.
A layup by BLC's Drew Sagedahl (who finished with 27 points and nine rebounds) ended his team's scoring drought, but A Frazell layup and another Anderson tip-in gave Northwestern a five-point edge at 63-58. Bethany quickly cut the lead to one, but back-to-back Anderson buckets made it 67-64. That's when UNW began to win the game at the free throw line. Nyamari calmly hit four consecutive free throws to push the lead to seven with 5:42 left. After the Vikings pulled within four, Greene hit back-to-back jumpers, including a seemingly impossible one to beat the shot clock, making it 75-70, Eagles. Four straight for Bethany Lutheran made it a one-point game with 3:33 to play, and a Vikings block gave them even more momentum, but Nyamari came up big with a steal at mid-court and took it all the way for a layup to halt the momentum.
With 2:33 left, Nyamari made two more free throws to get the lead back to five at 79-74, then Sagedahl and Burns took turns hitting two free throws apiece. BLC pulled within three with just over a minute left, but Wolbert came through in the clutch, burying a pull-up jumper with 39 seconds remaining to go up by two possessions. Two free throws each from Anderson and Nyamari, plus late layups by Wolbert and Nyamari, made it a 91-82 win for Northwestern. The Eagles made enough winning plays down the stretch to knock off the defending champs, even their record at 6-6 this season, and begin conference play 1-0.
Five Eagles scored in double figures Wednesday night, led by Nyamari's 21 points, six rebounds and three steals. Greene followed with 19 points, five boards and four steals, while Anderson was as efficient as ever, making six of seven shots for 14 points, all while collecting a game (and career)-high 16 rebounds. Wolbert shot 70% from the field en route to 14 points, four assists and two steals, while fellow freshman Frazell scored 12 points in just 14 minutes. Burns contributed nine points, Stevens two blocks, and
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley) three assists.
Northwestern will be back at home Saturday, January 11
th to take on North Central. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 PM inside the Ericksen Center.
