ST. PAUL, Minn. – With one game in the books, there is good news and bad news for University of Northwestern Men's Basketball fans. The good news is that
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) is back and can still fill it up. The bad news is the senior's 30 points were not enough to lift the Eagles to victory in their first game of the 2025-26 campaign. Sporting fresh, new black uniforms in front of a blackout crowd, Northwestern wasn't able to slow down Hamline University's offense, falling by a 99-84 score.
Nyamari was actually relatively quiet in the opening six-plus minutes, as
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) and
Jacob Hoefs (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) led UNW with four and three points, respectively, as their team trailed 13-9. That's when Nyamari started to get things going, but unfortunately for the purple and gold (and now, black), so did the Pipers.
Mateo Cortes Weiss (Monterrey, N.L., Mexico/Minnehaha Academy) checked in and provided a spark off the bench with four quick points to get Northwestern back within single digits at 27-18, but every time the Eagles started to chip away at Hamline's lead, the visitors would punch right back.
Will Foster (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie), playing his first basketball game in nearly five years after a four-year lacrosse career at Marquette University, made back-to-back layups with seven minutes left, but UNW fell behind by as many as 15 in the first half. A pair of Cortes Weiss free throws and a Nyamari jumper trimmed the deficit back to single digits at 48-39 as the buzzer sounded. Nyamari's bucket gave him 16 points for the half.
Jumpers by Foster and Nyamari to open the second half suddenly had the Eagles within five, but as they seemed to do all night, the Pipers answered with a three-point dagger. The backcourt tandem continued to pace Northwestern's offense as the hosts increased their defensive pressure, but once Hamline took a 65-54 lead, the margin would remain in double figures for the rest of the evening. UNW got to the free throw line at-will, but wasn't able to get the necessary stops to pull off the comeback. A pair of Hoefs free throws got the Eagles within 10 with 3:06 remaining, but the Pipers pulled away for a 99-84 win on opening night.
The free throw comment was not hyperbole, as Northwestern made 29 of 36 attempts from the charity stripe. It also only shot 20% from three-point range on 15 attempts and was out-rebounded 37-28 by the much larger Pipers. Nyamari's 30 points were the fifth time in his career he has reached that mark. The Anoka product also added six rebounds, two assists and two steals, and made all three of UNW's threes. Foster's debut was stellar, as the graduate shot 7-11 from the field for 18 points, adding two assists and two steals. Greene and Cortes Weiss each chipped in 10 points, while
Jonah Burnett (Orr, Minn./North Woods) and
Ben Tschida (Andover, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy) pulled down five rebounds apiece.
The Eagles will have nearly a week off before they travel to Lawrence University on Friday, November 14
th, after Tuesday's scheduled game at Bethel was moved to February 9
th. Tip-off in Appleton, Wisconsin is slated for 5:30 PM.
