News Release

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Ericksen Center, located on the campus of Northwestern College (Minn.), has become accustomed to hosting many memorable men’s basketball games in Eagle history. Northwestern’s 91-to-88 edging over Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) on Friday night can now be added to that list of memorable games as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) showdown included 15 ties and 9 lead changes, not to mention an exciting overtime period. Eagle freshman guard Steve Discher (Anoka, Minn.) wasn’t around for the previous memorable games, but he clearly left his mark on the latest historic affair, hitting the game-winning three-point field goal off a Joseph Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood High School) kick-out assist with 4.2 seconds left in overtime.

With the victory, Northwestern extended their winning streak to 5 games and upped their overall season record to 17-4. With the College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) losing on Friday night, Northwestern now stands all alone in first place in the UMAC regular season standings with an 8-2 showing. Bethany Lutheran College had their 3-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 8-13 overall, also falling to 5-5 in league play.

The first half witnessed a back-and-forth ball game as the first 20 minutes of play included 6 ties and 5 lead changes. No team led by more than 7 points with Bethany Lutheran’s largest advantage equaling 6 points, while Northwestern’s 42-to-35 advantage at halftime marked their biggest lead of the first half. The Vikings found themselves in front 19-to-13 midway through the half, but the Eagles tied the game at 19-to-19 and later finished the final 3 minutes of the period on an 11-0 run.

Both teams found the Ericksen Center rims to be quite inviting. Northwestern drilled 14-of-22 (63.6%) from the floor and 4-of-8 (50.0%) from behind the arc, while Bethany Lutheran made 12-of-23 (52.2%) field goal attempts. Super sophomore Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) accounted for 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting to pace the Eagles in the first half.

The Vikings began to chip away at their deficit in the second half and tied the game at 53-to-53 with 13:45 remaining in the conference battle. Both teams traded field goals and three-point baskets as the score remained tied at 58-to-58 just under 3 minutes later at 11:18. Continuing the trend, the Eagles and Vikings were tied again at 64-to-64 and 68-to-68. Following a three-point play by Northwestern forward Mike Anderstrom (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy), the scoreboard reflected another tie at 73-to-73 with just over 4 minutes remaining.

Bethany Lutheran put together an 8-to-3 run over the next 2 minutes as the Vikings led 81-to-76 with 1:50 left on the game clock. Northwestern quickly answered with a successful three-point field goal by Caleb Baker (Princeton, Ill.), followed by a Daniel Hanson lay-up off a Caleb Baker assist as the score was once again tied for the 7th time in the half on account of an 81-to-81 score with just over 60 ticks left. In the final minute, Bethany Lutheran and Northwestern both missed opportunities to score the game-winning basket, forcing an extra 5 minutes of overtime.

In the extra period, Bethany went in front 83-to-81, but the Eagles punched back with a three-point swish to go ahead 84-to-83 with exactly 3 minutes still to go. The Vikings responded, drilling their own three-point field goal, taking an 86-to-84 lead. With both squads trading baskets again and Northwestern adding a field goal, the scoreboard featured an 88-to-88 tie with 1:17 remaining in overtime. After Bethany Lutheran missed two shot attempts, Northwestern grabbed the rebound and played for the game-winning basket. Eagle standout Joseph Sir commanded the ball and began to work his way into traffic, but after three Viking defenders converged on him, Sir dished out to Steve Discher who hit the biggest shot of his infant Northwestern career, putting the Eagles in front 91-to-88. A final three-point attempt by the Vikings was no good as Northwestern hung on for the “w”.

The Eagles continued to shoot the ball well, setting a new season-high for field goal percentage with 60.8% (31-of-51). Northwestern also connected on 9-of-14 (64.3%) from long range and 20-of-28 (71.4%) from the charity stripe. Northwestern’s 91 points represented a new season-high. Bethany Lutheran also shot the ball impressively, hitting 31-of-61 (50.8%) field goal attempts and 17-of-22 (77.3%) free throw attempts. Both teams tallied just 2 turnovers in the final 25 minutes of the game, covering the second half and overtime periods.

Four of the five Northwestern starters reached double-figures for scoring, including Daniel Hanson, who set a new career high of 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor. Joseph Sir notched 18 points, while Josh Strelecki and Mike Anderstrom each accounted for 16 points.

Representing what is probably the most dangerous duo in the UMAC, Bethany Lutheran’s guard pair of Alfonso Mayfield (Milwaukee, Wis./Brookfield Central High School) and Dewan Grant (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet High School) highlighted the Viking box score. Mayfield was credited with 26 points on the night, including 21 in the second half and overtime. Grant poured in 25 points.

Northwestern College is now 3-1 all-time against Bethany Lutheran College and 2-1 all-time at home against the Vikings, winning each of their last three head-to-head match-ups. The Eagles will continue Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play on Saturday evening, hosting Martin Luther College (Minn.) at 5 p.m. Bethany Lutheran will pack their bags and take on Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Bethany Lutheran College Men vs Northwestern College Men
02/03/06 7:30 PM at St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
At St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE MEN 91, BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE MEN 88
BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE MEN (8-13, 5-5 UMAC)
Mayfield, Alfonso 9-14 5-5 26; Grant, Dewan 8-16 6-8 25; Bourdain, Amun 5-6
3-4 13; Owens, Shomari 4-5 0-1 8; Priem, Travis 2-4 2-2 7; Libby, Ross 1-8
0-0 3; Rosin, Mike 1-1 0-0 3; McFarland, Joe 1-1 1-2 3; Allison, Rusty 0-2
0-0 0; Brown, Donald 0-3 0-0 0; Hartzell, David 0-0 0-0 0; Witt, Jake 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 31-61 17-22 88.
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE MEN (17-4, 8-2 UMAC)
Hanson, Daniel 9-11 4-7 25; Sir, Joseph 7-9 3-4 18; Anderstrom, Mike 4-9
8-11 16; Strelecki, Josh 5-9 3-4 16; Discher, Steve 2-4 0-0 5; Baker, Caleb
1-1 2-2 5; Cramer, Andrew 2-6 0-0 4; Zuleger, Dave 1-2 0-0 2; Krehbiel, Josh
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-51 20-28 91.
Bethany Lutheran College Men..   35   46    7  -   88
Northwestern College Men......   42   39   10  -   91
3-point goals-Bethany Lutheran College Men 9-24 (Mayfield, Alfonso 3-4;
Grant, Dewan 3-7; Priem, Travis 1-1; Libby, Ross 1-8; Rosin, Mike 1-1;
Brown, Donald 0-1; Witt, Jake 0-1; Bourdain, Amun 0-1), Northwestern College
Men 9-14 (Hanson, Daniel 3-5; Strelecki, Josh 3-4; Discher, Steve 1-1;
Baker, Caleb 1-1; Sir, Joseph 1-2; Cramer, Andrew 0-1). Fouled out--Bethany
Lutheran College Men-None, Northwestern College Men-None. Rebounds-Bethany
Lutheran College Men 33 (Owens, Shomari 6), Northwestern College Men 23
(Anderstrom, Mike 7). Assists-Bethany Lutheran College Men 14 (Mayfield,
Alfonso 5), Northwestern College Men 17 (Discher, Steve 5). Total
fouls-Bethany Lutheran College Men 19, Northwestern College Men 19. A-602
Northwestern College defeated Bethany Lutheran College by a score of 91-88.