February 8

Box Score

Daniel Hanson scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Northwestern College stay atop the UMAC with a 74-59 win over Northland College at Kendrigan Gymnasium.

The Eagles improved to 13-7 overall and 8-1 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.  The Jack's lost their fourth straight to fall to 3-16 and 1-8 in the UMAC.

Ryan Cannata (Nashwauk, MN) gave the Jack's an early 5-4 lead with a three-pointer just a little more than three minutes in.  That would be the last lead for Northland, but the LumberJacks hung with the pre-season conference favorite for much of the game.

After Cannata's three, Northwestern went on a 10-1 surge over the next 2:10 to take a 15-5 lead.  Jordan Arneson (Madison, WI) nailed a three and two Max Lesatz (Houghton, MI) free-throws got the Jack's within 15-10.  The Eagles scored five straight of their own to take back their ten-point lead with 11:57 left in the first half.

Trailing 25-15, Northland chopped the lead once again as they outscored Northwestern 8-2 to pull within 27-23 with 3:27 to go.  The Eagles wound up settling for a 33-26 halftime lead.

Northwestern scored the first basket of the second half, but Northland countered with four in a row to trail 35-30 less than two minutes in.  Leading 39-34, the Eagles moved back up to double digits as they ran off six straight points.  Jumpers by Lesatz and Cannata moved Northland within 45-38 with 12:55 remaining, but the seven-point spread would eventually be the closet Northland would get the rest of the way.

Cannata led three Northland players in double figures with 12 points and he also collected three steals.  Lesatz had 11 points and a team-high five rebounds, while Dylan Ring (Eau Claire, WI) finished with ten points on 3-4 shooting, including 2-2 from three-point range.

They conclude the regular season with three straight games on the road.  On Friday, February 15th, they play a 7:30 PM game at Presentation College and the travel to the University of Minnesota-Morris for a 5:00 PM tip-off on Saturday.  They conclude the UMAC season on February 19th at 7:30 PM as they go to the College of St. Scholastica.