News Release

ST. PAUL, Minn. — One night after being upset on their home floor, the Northwestern College (Minn.) men’s basketball team responded with a 66-64 triumph over the University of Minnesota-Morris, who was previously undefeated in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action. With the win, the Eagles improved to 12-3 overall on the year and now stand tied for first place in the UMAC with a 3-1 record. The Cougars, who watched their 5-game winning streak come to an end, slipped to 7-7 this season and 3-1 in league play. Northwestern and Minnesota-Morris have split their last 6 head-to-head battles.

In what has quickly become one of the top rivalries in UMAC men’s basketball, this particular contest provided another memorable chapter as the league clash featured 9 lead changes and 9 ties with neither team leading by more than 7 points through out the entire contest.

Down 5-0 to start the game, Northwestern chipped away at their deficit and put together a 16-to-4 run to take a 16-to-9 lead with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Both teams continued to counter each other’s punches as the score was tied 3 more times before the end of the half with neither team owning more than a 4-point advantage in the final 10 minutes of the period. As the halftime buzzer went off, Minnesota-Morris was narrowly in front on account of a 32-29 score.

Both teams shot an identical 36.4% (12-of-33) from the floor in the first half and both teams pulled down 23 total rebounds. Northwestern sophomore standout Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) came out firing, racking up 13 points and 8 rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes of play.

The second half featured more back-and-forth action with 6 ties and 5 lead-changes taking place. The Eagles led by as much as 4 points in the early stages of the half, followed by Minnesota-Morris stringing together their own 4-point advantage with the score tied again at 49-to-49 with 11:29 remaining in the affair. Northwestern was able to create some space in the winding minutes, going up 63-58 with just under 3 minutes left. The Cougars drew within 1 point at 63-62 and again at 65-64, but that would be as close as they would get as their final possession with a chance to tie or win the game ended in a turnover as time expired.

The Eagles picked up their shooting in the second half, connecting on 15-of-25 (60.0%) field goal attempts to finish the game shooting 46.6% (27-of-58) from the floor. Minnesota-Morris also improved their shooting in the second half, finishing the contest hitting 25-of-62 (40.3%) field goal attempts. Both teams turned the ball over on 16 occasions.

Northwestern senior all-conference standout Joseph Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood HS) posted a game-high 25 points, as he made 10-of-19 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Sir also grabbed 10 rebounds to produce the first double-double of his career, setting a new personal career-high for rebounds in a single game. Daniel Hanson boasted his own double-double outing, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting, and junior Andrew Cramer (Alma Center, Wis./Lincoln HS) added 10 points and 2 assists off the bench as he was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field.

For Minnesota-Morris, three-players reached double-figures for points, including freshman Steve Farmer (Fridley, Minn.), who put down 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Brendan McNally (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) added 16 points and James Carr (Barnesville, Minn.) owned 12 points along with 5 steals.

Northwestern College will head north to Duluth, Minnesota, for their next contest, battling the College of St. Scholastica at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 20th. The Cougars will also pack their bags and travel to North Central University on Tuesday, January 17th, for a 7:30 p.m. match-up.

Univ. of Minnesota-Morris Men vs Northwestern College Men
01/14/06 5:00 PM at St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
At St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE MEN 66, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA-MORRIS MEN 64
UNIV. OF MINNESOTA-MORRIS MEN (7-7, 3-1 UMAC)
Farmer,Steve 7-11 3-7 17; McNally, Brendan 7-17 2-2 16; Carr, James 4-13 2-2
12; Jensen,Will 3-6 3-4 9; Hebert,John 3-7 0-0 7; Kelzenberg,Corey 1-2 0-0
3; Allen,Phil 0-2 0-0 0; Zych,Daron 0-0 0-0 0; Cunniff, Kevin 0-4 0-0 0.
Totals 25-62 10-15 64.
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE MEN (12-3, 3-1 UMAC)
Sir, Joseph 10-19 2-3 25; Hanson, Daniel 5-10 0-2 13; Cramer, Andrew 4-4 2-3
10; Anderstrom, Mike 4-7 0-0 8; Strelecki, Josh 2-7 0-1 5; Zuleger, Dave 1-6
0-0 3; Baker, Caleb 1-2 0-0 2; Olson, Andrew 0-0 0-0 0; Fogelberg, Nels 0-1
0-0 0; Krehbiel, Josh 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 4-9 66.
Univ. of Minnesota-Morris Men.   32   32  -   64
Northwestern College Men......   29   37  -   66
3-point goals-Univ. of Minnesota-Morris Men 4-21 (Carr, James 2-9;
Kelzenberg,Corey 1-2; Hebert,John 1-3; Cunniff, Kevin 0-2; Jensen,Will 0-2;
McNally, Brendan 0-3), Northwestern College Men 8-23 (Hanson, Daniel 3-7;
Sir, Joseph 3-5; Zuleger, Dave 1-3; Strelecki, Josh 1-4; Krehbiel, Josh 0-2;
Baker, Caleb 0-1; Anderstrom, Mike 0-1). Fouled out--Univ. of
Minnesota-Morris Men-None, Northwestern College Men-None. Rebounds-Univ. of
Minnesota-Morris Men 40 (Farmer,Steve 10), Northwestern College Men 35
(Hanson, Daniel 11). Assists-Univ. of Minnesota-Morris Men 15
(Kelzenberg,Corey 6), Northwestern College Men 19 (Strelecki, Josh 6). Total
fouls-Univ. of Minnesota-Morris Men 11, Northwestern College Men 14.
Northwestern is 5-9 all-time against Minnesota-Morris.  Northwestern is 4-3
all-time at home against Minnesota-Morris. Northwestern defeated the Minnesota
Morris by a score of 66-64.  Both teams are now tied for 1st place in the UMAC
regular season standings.