News Release

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On a team that features two first-team all-conference players and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Player of the Year, it was Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) sophomore reserve guard Travis Priem (Janesville, Minn./Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School) who left the Ericksen Center as the hero on Thursday night. Off-balanced and splitting two defenders, Priem swished the game-winning three-point field goal from well-behind the arc, as time expired and the buzzer rang out, providing the Vikings with a 71-68 triumph in semi-final action of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) north central regional tournament. Bethany Lutheran College will now move on to the regional championship and face Trinity International University (Ill.) on Saturday with a berth to the NCCAA national championship tournament on the line.

Shocked in disbelief, the Northwestern College (Minn.) men’s basketball team saw their 2005-2006 season come to an unexpected end. With the loss, the Eagles wrapped up their campaign owning a 20-7 overall record, losing 3 of their last 4 games on the year. Bethany Lutheran College, a team much more talented than their record indicates, improved to .500 with the win, now standing at 14-14 overall this year. The showdown marked the 2nd time in the last 7 days that these two teams have battled, and the 4th time this year the Eagles and Vikings have clashed. Northwestern edged Bethany Lutheran in their first two match-ups, but the Vikings topped the Eagles in their two post-season affairs.

Northwestern appeared to be in control early, jumping out to a 10-to-3 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Bethany Lutheran slowly worked down their deficit and tied the game at 19-to-19 with 7:46 on the clock in the opening half. The game remained tight until the end of the half as both teams continued to trade baskets with the Eagles taking a slight lead of 30-to-29 with them into the locker room at the midway point. Both team struggled to find their shooting touch in the first half as the game created a high-paced and rugged feel. Bethany Lutheran made just 12-of-31 (38.7%) field goal attempts in the first half, while Northwestern hit only 11-of-30 (36.7%) from the floor. The Eagles turned the ball over on 8 occasions in the first 20 minutes.

The second half continued the frantic pace as Northwestern built a modest 45-to-40 advantage 5 minutes into the half. Similar to the first half, the Vikings slowly chipped away and tied the game at 50-to-50 with just over 10 minutes to play in the contest. Five minutes later, the score remained tied, this time at 55-to-55 as neither team was able to shake the other and create some space. After another tie at 62-to-62 with 2:58 to go, Northwestern went in front 66-to-63 and looked as though they would sneak out the win. However, the Vikings tied the game on a three-point play. After the Eagles netted a field goal that put them ahead 68-to-66, Bethany Lutheran tied the game once again at 68-to-68 on an offensive rebound and put back with just over 20 ticks left on the clock.

With no shot clock in play, Northwestern held the ball for what they thought would be the final shot of the game. After working the clock down to 4 seconds, the Eagles called a time-out to set up a play. That play would never happen, as Northwestern turned the ball over on the in-bound pass and Bethany Lutheran quickly called a time-out, hoping to set up the game-winning attempt. Following the time out, the Vikings were able to get the ball into the hands of Travis Priem and after a couple of long dribbles down the side line, Priem hoisted a long-range bomb that looked good in the air and was good as it trickled through the net, securing the 71-to-68 victory for Bethany Lutheran.

In what has quickly developed as an exciting and intense rivalry, the 4th round of the Eagles versus the Vikings this season provided 9 ties, 13 lead changes, and neither team led by more than 7 points. Bethany Lutheran shot 51.4% (18-of-35) from the floor in the second half, while Northwestern was successful on 14-of-31 (45.2%) field goal attempts in the half and 25-of-61 (41.0%) for the game. Despite a 45-to-33 edge in rebounding, the Eagles were outscored 30-to-14 in the paint as Bethany Lutheran was consistently able to penetrate for close-range hoops. Fourteen Northwestern miscues led to 16 Vikings points as the Eagles struggled to take care of the ball at times.

Sophomore forward Daniel Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) was 1-of-4 Eagle players to reach double-figures for points, posting a team-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and also grabbing 9 rebounds. Concluding his illustrious career with Northwestern, stand-out senior Joseph Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood High School) poured in 16 points as he took over the game offensively for the Eagles in the winding minutes. Sophomore post player Mike Anderstrom (Mendota Heights, Minn./New Life Academy) added 10 points and 14 rebounds in a double-double performance.

UMAC Player of the Year in junior guard Alfonso Mayfield (Milwaukee, Wis./Brookfield Central High School) boasted 17 points to pace the Vikings. Amun Bourdain (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet High School) chipped in 13 points and Travis Priem came off the bench to spark Bethany Lutheran with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, not to mention the game-winning three-point field goal.

With just 1 senior on the roster in 2005-2006, the Northwestern men’s basketball program has plenty of reasons for optimism. The Eagles reached the 20-win plateau for the first time in program history since the 1997-1998 season, and claimed a share of the UMAC regular season conference championship, the program’s 3rd straight league title and 5th in the past 6 seasons. Northwestern’s 20-7 final record represents the best single-season winning percentage (.741) in program history and their 7 losses marks the fewest ever in a season in Eagle men’s basketball history.

Bethany Lutheran College Men vs Northwestern College Men
03/02/06 7:00 PM at Ericksen Center/St. Paul, Minn.
At Ericksen Center/St. Paul, Minn.
BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE MEN 71, NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE MEN 68
BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE MEN (14-14, 9-5 UMAC)
Mayfield, Alfonso 7-18 2-3 17; Bourdain, Amun 6-9 1-3 13; Priem, Travis 5-8
0-0 11; Grant, Dewan 3-14 0-0 8; Allison, Rusty 3-3 0-0 7; Libby, Ross 2-5
0-0 6; Owens, Shomari 2-5 0-1 4; Rosin, Mike 1-2 0-0 3; McFarland, Joe 1-1
0-0 2; Brown, Donald 0-1 0-0 0; Hartzell, David 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 30-66 3-9
71.
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE MEN (20-7, 11-3 UMAC)
Hanson, Daniel 6-9 2-2 17; Sir, Joseph 4-10 6-6 16; Strelecki, Josh 5-16 0-0
11; Anderstrom, Mike 4-12 1-2 10; Olson, Andrew 2-2 1-2 5; Zuleger, Dave 2-5
0-0 4; Discher, Steve 1-3 0-2 3; Baker, Caleb 1-4 0-0 2; Cramer, Andrew 0-0
0-0 0; Krehbiel, Josh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 10-14 68.
Bethany Lutheran College Men..   29   42  -   71
Northwestern College Men......   30   38  -   68
3-point goals-Bethany Lutheran College Men 8-19 (Libby, Ross 2-3; Grant,
Dewan 2-7; Allison, Rusty 1-1; Rosin, Mike 1-2; Mayfield, Alfonso 1-3;
Priem, Travis 1-3), Northwestern College Men 8-19 (Hanson, Daniel 3-5; Sir,
Joseph 2-5; Anderstrom, Mike 1-1; Strelecki, Josh 1-3; Discher, Steve 1-2;
Baker, Caleb 0-2; Zuleger, Dave 0-1). Fouled out--Bethany Lutheran College
Men-None, Northwestern College Men-None. Rebounds-Bethany Lutheran College
Men 33 (Mayfield, Alfonso 6; Grant, Dewan 6; Priem, Travis 6), Northwestern
College Men 45 (Anderstrom, Mike 14). Assists-Bethany Lutheran College Men
16 (Grant, Dewan 4; Priem, Travis 4), Northwestern College Men 11
(Strelecki, Josh 3; Zuleger, Dave 3; Baker, Caleb 3). Total fouls-Bethany
Lutheran College Men 10, Northwestern College Men 12.
This is the semi-finals of the National Christian College Athletic Association
(NCCAA) north central regional tournament.  Bethany Lutheran College advances
to the regional championship on Saturday, March 4th, at 3 p.m. (Site TBD)
Northwestern is 4-3 all-time against Bethany Lutheran and 2-2 at home.