PELLA, Iowa – The University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team trekked down to Central College for its final game of the 2025 calendar year, in search of some momentum heading into the holiday break. Through 20 minutes, the Eagles appeared primed to do just that, as they held a 40-36 edge. But the home Dutch were able to flip the script as soon as the second half began and ran away with a 91-72 win to improve to 5-5 on the season and drop UNW to 2-9. It is the fourth time this season that Northwestern has surrendered 90+ points.
Central jumped out to a 6-0 lead early on, but a 9-2 run in which four different Eagles scored four field goals gave the visitors a one-point edge. The Dutch responded with an 8-0 spurt to take control back, but UNW was able to regain the lead at 17-16 after a
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) layup and three-pointers from
Noah Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) and
Ben Tschida (Andover, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy). A 7-0 run shortly thereafter made it 24-19 in favor of Northwestern, but the Dutch had another run in them, this time 9-0 to go ahead by four. The game of runs continued as the Eagles scored the next 10, including a pair of triples from Frazell, to surge back ahead 34-28, and they held a 40-36 halftime lead thanks to five points in the final 64 seconds from Nyamari.
After a highly-competitive first half, the second appeared headed for the same as the teams were deadlocked in a 46-46 tie, with Nyamari and
Jonah Burnett (Orr, Minn./North Woods) knocking down threes for the Eagles. But Central scored the next 13 points to seize control in front of the home fans before
Will Foster (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) stopped the bleeding with a layup. Another Frazell trey trimmed the deficit to 11, but that is the closest UNW would be for the remainder of the game. The margin ballooned to as much as 27 with 3:39 left before an 8-0 Northwestern run made things look slightly tighter. A Hoefs jumper in the closing seconds made the final score 91-72 in favor of the hosts after they outscored UNW 55-32 in the final 20 minutes.
In a strange statistical occurrence, the Eagles shot much better from behind the arc (40%) than they did from inside it (36%). Nyamari led the scoring efforts with 19 and chipped in three steals, while Frazell finished with 17 and three assists. Hoefs logged another double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, and Burnett matched his 13 points. Foster pulled down six rebounds in just 12 minutes of action, while
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) dished out three assists.
UNW will take some time off to celebrate Christmas before returning to action on Monday, January 5
th in the Ericksen Center for its non-conference finale against Augsburg. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
