ST. PAUL, Minn. – After 15 days off to celebrate the holidays, the University of Northwestern Men's Basketball team returned to action Monday night, kicking off its 2026 slate by hosting 9-3 Augsburg University. Despite a mostly tight opening 23 minutes, Augsburg's tenacious defense (which forced 16 UNW turnovers) and efficiency at the rim propelled the visitors to an 87-55 victory, dropping the Eagles to 2-10 entering UMAC play.
Buckets by
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) and
Jacob Hoefs (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) had the game tied at four-apiece, but the Auggies rattled off nine straight. Northwestern responded with a run of its own, as four different players combined to score the next eight points and get the Eagles within one at 13-12. UNW took a brief, 16-15 lead after back-to-back field goals from
Isaac Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy), and again at 22-21 after a Nyamari jumper and a driving layup from
Noah Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock). Not much would go Northwestern's way for the remainder of the half, however, as Augsburg closed the opening 20 on a 20-5 run, including a 10-0 surge in the final 2:13, to take a 41-27 advantage into the locker room.
Despite the avalanche of offense from the Auggies to close the first half, UNW came out swinging early in the second. Hoefs and Aune knocked down three-pointers to cut the deficit to eight, but Augsburg scored the next seven points to get its lead back to double digits at 48-33. The Eagles tried to chip away with jumpers from Greene and
Will Foster (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie), but the Auggies' defense was unrelenting as their lead grew to 25.
Julius Frog (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) checked in and provided a spark with an immediate layup and a nice post move through contact, and fellow freshmen
Connor Raleigh (New Richmond, Wis./New Richmond),
Ty Roehm (Luck, Wis./Luck) and
Ethan Van Schepen (Rochester, Minn./Schaeffer Academy) all scored in the closing minutes as well. When the final buzzer sounded, Augsburg had claimed an 87-55 victory behind 29 points and 13 rebounds from freshman guard JJ Semanko.
Hoefs was the only Eagle to reach double-figures, while Nyamari finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists. Frazell chipped in seven points, while Greene scored six points and dished out a team-high three assists.
Jonah Burnett (Orr, Minn./North Woods) and Aune pulled down six and four rebounds, respectively. Augsburg won the rebounding battle, 44-31, out-shot UNW by 12% from both the field and the three-point line, and doubled them up in paint points (44-22).
Northwestern won't have much time to think about this one, as it begins UMAC competition Wednesday at Bethany Lutheran. Tip-off in Mankato is scheduled for 7:15 PM, following the conclusion of the women's game. You can catch all the action on the UMAC Sports Network.
