Northwestern started the non-conference tilt with a scorching shooting display, but drastically cooled off as they game wore on. The Eagles finished the night shooting 40.7 percent (35-of-86) from the floor and just 25.0 percent (6-of-24) from behind the arc. Northwestern did sink 23-of-29 (79.3%) from the free throw line. The Eagles out-rebounded North Central by a 61-to-50 margin, owning a 20-to-9 advantage in second chance points. Northwestern also racked up 26 points in the paint, compared to just 14 for the Rams. North Central hit 26-of-73 (35.6%) from the field and just 3-of-16 (18.8%) from three-point range.
After building their 26-to-8 lead midway through the first half, Northwestern continued to own the upper-hand, leading by as many as 22 points in the period. The Rams closed to within 18 points at 50-to-32 at the midway point. With the Eagle’s shooting woes continuing in the second half, North Central slowly chipped away at their deficit and closed to within 11 points on two separate occasions, but the Rams were never able to whittle their deficit to single-digits and Northwestern drilled their free throws down the stretch to preserve the 99-to-81 victory.
The Hanson brothers combined to pour in 40 points for the Eagles. Junior forward Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) set a new career game high for points, boasting 26 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the floor. His 10 field goals made ties his previous career high for field goals made in a single game. Daniel also grabbed 15 rebounds in an impressive double-double performance. Freshman Stephen Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) chipped in 14 points and 8 rebounds, while Mike Anderstrom (Woodbury, Minn.) contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, netting 6-of-11 from the field. Northwestern had 5 players reach double-figures for points.
North Central University was paced by senior Chris Johnson (Grand Junction, Colo.) who notched a game-high 29 points. Levi Myers (Fennville, Mich.) added 18 points and 8 rebounds, while Ryan Leak (Rockford, Ill.) tallied 11 points and 8 boards. Northwestern College is now 52-12 all-time against the Rams and 27-4 all-time at home against North Central.
North Central University vs Northwestern College 11/17/06 8:00 PM at St. Paul, Minn./Erickson Center At St. Paul, Minn./Erickson Center NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE 99, NORTH CENTRAL UNIVERSITY 81 NORTH CENTRAL UNIVERSITY (0-1) JOHNSON, Chris 10-24 8-11 29; MYERS, Levi 6-10 6-7 18; LEAK, Ryan 3-13 4-6 11; REESE, Aguirre 3-7 2-2 8; JOHNSON, Ross 2-5 3-4 8; HICKOX, Chris 1-3 2-2 4; SVOBODA, Steve 1-2 0-0 2; FLEIG, Jordan 0-3 1-2 1; BASINSKI, Karl 0-0 0-0 0; SANON, Rueben 0-2 0-0 0; BASINSKI, Gary 0-1 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Phil 0-2 0-0 0; YOUNG, Daniel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-73 26-34 81. NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE (1-0) Hanson, Daniel 10-23 4-6 26; Anderstrom, Mike 6-11 4-5 16; Hanson, Stephen 5-9 3-3 14; Strelecki, Josh 4-18 2-2 12; Discher, Steve 4-9 2-2 10; Secord, Levi 2-4 2-4 6; Zuleger, Dave 1-6 3-3 5; Garst, Eric 1-1 3-3 5; Lecheler, James 1-1 0-0 3; Burns, Markus 1-1 0-1 2; Gerdes, Shean 0-0 0-0 0; Nylin, Matthew 0-1 0-0 0; Berens, Reid 0-1 0-0 0; Krehbiel, Josh 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-86 23-29 99. North Central University...... 42 39 - 81 Northwestern College.......... 60 39 - 99 3-point goals-North Central University 3-16 (LEAK, Ryan 1-4; JOHNSON, Ross 1-3; JOHNSON, Chris 1-6; HICKOX, Chris 0-1; FLEIG, Jordan 0-1; MYERS, Levi 0-1), Northwestern College 6-24 (Strelecki, Josh 2-10; Hanson, Daniel 2-7; Hanson, Stephen 1-3; Lecheler, James 1-1; Nylin, Matthew 0-1; Krehbiel, Josh 0-1; Discher, Steve 0-1). Fouled out--North Central University-YOUNG, Daniel, Northwestern College-None. Rebounds-North Central University 50 (MYERS, Levi 8; LEAK, Ryan 8), Northwestern College 61 (Hanson, Daniel 15). Assists-North Central University 11 (LEAK, Ryan 3; MYERS, Levi 3), Northwestern College 20 (Zuleger, Dave 5). Total fouls-North Central University 22, Northwestern College 21. This is the second men's game at the Northwestern College 2006 Coca-Cola Classic Tournament. Northwestern College advances to the championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. North Central University will play in the consolation game on Saturday at 3 p.m.