News Release

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Scoring the game’s first four points, the Northwestern College (Minn.) men’s basketball team never trailed on Wednesday night, rolling over Luther College (Iowa) on account of a 74-62 final score in non-conference action from the Ericksen Center. The victory extends Northwestern’s current winning streak to five games and puts the Eagles at 6-1 overall on the year, equaling their start from a year ago in which they also came out in front in six of their first seven contests. Luther College slipped to 1-6 on the year with the setback. The visiting Norse have lost five straight on Northwestern’s home floor dating back to the 1982-1983 season and the Eagles have prevailed over Luther College in 9 of their last 10 overall head-to-head battles.

Northwestern created some space early, earning a 13-to-6 advantage just 5 minutes into the game. The Eagles continued to own the upper-hand, increasing their lead to as many as 14 points in the opening half, before taking a 37-to-25 advantage into the halftime break. On their first possession of the second period, Northwestern junior Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) drilled a three-point field goal, putting the Eagles in front by 15 at 40-to-25. That would mark the largest lead of the game for Northwestern. The Eagles maintained control in the second half as the closest Luther was able to get was 7 points on several occasions in their attempt eliminate their deficit.

Both squads shot the ball well as Northwestern connected on 28-of-53 (52.8%) field goal attempts and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the three-point range, while Luther was successful on 25-of-51 (49.0%) from the floor. The battle of the boards was a draw as the Eagles pulled down 29 rebounds, while Luther trailed close behind with 27 on the night. Northwestern recorded a season-best 11 turnovers and Luther’s 62 points represented the lowest points scored by an opponent on the Eagles all season.

Northwestern featured four players hitting double-figures for points, including junior guard Josh Strelecki (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park High School), who owned a team-high 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, also adding a season-high and tying a career-high with 4 steals in the win. Steve Discher (Andover, Minn.), Daniel Hanson, and Mike Anderstrom (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) each added 12 points, with Discher and Anderstrom both grabbing 7 rebounds as well. Junior point guard Dave Zuleger (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West High School) contributed 7 points and a season-high 6 assists, just 1 shy of his career high for assists in a game.

Tony Brantner (Mason City, Iowa) paced Luther College with a game-high 17 points, netting 8-of-14 from the floor, and pulling down 6 rebounds. Jacob Waddle (Coon Rapids, Iowa/Coon Rapids-Baayard High School) added 12 points and Drew Devine (St. Charles, Minn.) chipped in 11 points and 4 rebounds for the Norse.

The Eagles will begin Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action on Saturday, December 9, hosting Crown College (Minn.) at 5 p.m. Northwestern has won outright or shared the UMAC regular season title each of the past three seasons and five of the past six years the conference championship has landed with the Eagle program.

Luther College vs Northwestern College
12/06/06 7:30 PM at St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
At St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE 74, LUTHER COLLEGE 62
LUTHER COLLEGE (1-6 (0-1 IIAC))
BRANTNER, Tony 8-14 1-1 17; WADDLE, Jacob 3-4 4-5 12; DEVINE, Drew 5-8 1-2
11; RUCKEBEIL, Zach 3-6 2-2 9; NEHMAN, Nick 2-2 0-0 4; NEIS, Nate 1-2 1-1 3;
CAMPBELL, Andy 1-3 0-0 2; BILDSTEIN, Austin 1-7 0-0 2; JOHNSON, Josh 1-5 0-0
2; CAMP, Lucian 0-0 0-0 0; PROCHASKA, Logan 0-0 0-0 0; ROSBOROUGH, Jon 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 25-51 9-11 62.
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE (6-1 (0-0 UMAC))
Strelecki, Josh 6-11 1-3 14; Hanson, Daniel 4-7 2-2 12; Discher, Steve 4-11
2-2 12; Anderstrom, Mike 5-8 2-2 12; Hanson, Stephen 4-6 0-0 9; Zuleger,
Dave 2-3 3-4 7; Krehbiel, Josh 2-4 0-0 4; Berens, Reid 1-2 0-0 2; Lecheler,
James 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 28-53 12-15 74.
Luther College................   25   37  -   62
Northwestern College..........   37   37  -   74
3-point goals-Luther College 3-12 (WADDLE, Jacob 2-3; RUCKEBEIL, Zach 1-3;
CAMPBELL, Andy 0-1; BILDSTEIN, Austin 0-3; JOHNSON, Josh 0-1; BRANTNER, Tony
0-1), Northwestern College 6-13 (Hanson, Daniel 2-3; Discher, Steve 2-4;
Strelecki, Josh 1-3; Hanson, Stephen 1-1; Krehbiel, Josh 0-2). Fouled
out--Luther College-None, Northwestern College-None. Rebounds-Luther College
27 (RUCKEBEIL, Zach 6; BRANTNER, Tony 6), Northwestern College 29 (Discher,
Steve 7; Anderstrom, Mike 7). Assists-Luther College 9 (NEIS, Nate 3),
Northwestern College 14 (Zuleger, Dave 6). Total fouls-Luther College 15,
Northwestern College 13.
Northwestern College is 9-4 all-time against Luther College and 6-1 all-time
at home against the Norse. Northwestern College is currently on a five-game
winning streak.