ST. PAUL, Minn. - With the weather outside turning more frightful by the second, the University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team hoped to provide some delightful basketball inside the Ericksen Center for its home crowd before the Thanksgiving break commenced. Things did not go according to UNW's plan against the College of St. Scholastica, as the Saints' constant defensive pressure and timely shooting allowed Northwestern's former UMAC foe to roll to a 71-55 win to improve to 4-2 under first-year head coach Jared Drake. With the loss, the Eagles fell to 1-4.
CSS got off to a good start, opening up a 14-6 lead through seven minutes, with UNW's only points coming from its forwards in
Jonah Burnett (Orr, Minn./North Woods) (4) and
Ben Tschida (Andover, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy) (2). The margin reached double digits at 19-8 before Burnett scored inside again, continuing his strong, first-half post play. Scholastica's Davion Butler buried his fourth three-pointer in as many attempts with 5:46 left to give the Saints their largest lead of the first half at 14 points, but the Eagles found their rhythm and closed out the half on a 12-5 run. Threes from recently-crowned UMAC Player of the Week
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) and
Isaac Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy), plus five points from
Will Foster (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and four from Burnett, got Northwestern within four at the break at 33-29. Burnett had 12 of UNW's 29 points in the frame.
The momentum the Eagles had acquired entering the locker room completely disappeared once the teams returned to the floor, as the visitors opened the second half with a 12-0 surge to extend their lead to 16. To its credit, Northwestern battled back with eight straight after triples from Foster and Nyamari, plus an Aune transition layup, to trim the deficit to eight at 45-37. St. Scholastica found its footing and pushed the lead back to double digits with an 8-0 run, where it would stay for the remainder of the night. CSS led by as many as 20 in a 71-55 win, using physical defense to hold UNW to 31.3% shooting and 19.2% from deep.
Despite only two second-half points, Burnett led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points and added seven rebounds. Foster finished with 13 points and three assists, while Nyamari chipped in a season-low 10 points. On a tough shooting night, Greene excelled in other areas, leading the team in rebounds (9), assists (5) and steals (3), while blocking a pair of shots. Aune recorded six rebounds and a game-high three blocks in just 15 minutes, and
Jacob Hoefs (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) pulled down five boards.
Northwestern will be idle for 10 days before welcoming Maranatha Baptist to the Ericksen Center on Friday, December 5th for the second leg of a men's-women's doubleheader. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 PM, after the conclusion of the women's game.
