North Central looked impressive early, quickly grabbing a 20-7 lead just 6 minutes into the game. The Rams continued to own the upper hand, hanging on to a 26-15 advantage with 8:15 left in the first half. Northwestern slowly began to creep their way back into the non-conference tussle, finishing the half on a 22-11 run to tie the game at 37 at the midway point. The Rams shot a sizzling 51.9% from the floor in the first half, sinking 14-of-27 field goal attempts and 8-of-17 three-point shots. Northwestern College also found the Ericksen Center rims to be inviting, making 16-of-32 (50.0%) field goal attempts.
C.J. Johnson (Grand Junction, Colo.), a junior guard for North Central poured in 21 points in the first half alone, connecting on 6-of-8 three-point attempts. Sophomore transfer Josh Strelecki (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park HS) paced Northwestern College with 14 points in the first twenty minutes of play.
The second half featured a very even battle with 6 ties and 5 different lead changes. Northwestern took over the lead in a 62-61 score at 6:09 on a three-point play by Andrew Cramer (Alma, Wis./Lincoln HS) and never relinquished their advantage. The Eagles continued to add to their lead with the final score of 79-66 representing their largest advantage of the night. Northwestern owned a 7-0 advantage in second chance points in the second half and the Eagle bench outscored the Rams substitutions 14-0 in the second half. Both teams shot extremely well in their first contest of the year. Northwestern finished shooting 50.8% (30-of-59) from the floor and 46.7% (7-of-15) from three-point range. North Central was successful on 25-of-53 (47.2%) field goal attempts.
C.J. Johnson finished with a game-high 29 points, also adding 5 assists. Joining him in double-figures for the Rams was Jeremy Watkins (Rockford, Ill.), who chipped in 17 points and 6 rebounds. For Northwestern, sophomore Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Academy) boasted a team-high 20 points, making 9-of-13 field goal attempts with 7 rebounds. Josh Strelecki finished his Eagle debut performance with 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists while senior all-conference stand-out Joseph Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood HS) added 13 points for Northwestern.
Northwestern College is now 50-12 all-time against North Central University and 26-4 all-time at home against the Rams.