Men's Hoops Gets Two Big Road Wins, Falls at Home to Lions
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Men's Basketball went 2-1 last week with big road wins over The College of St. Scholastica and Presentation College before falling at home in a heartbreaker to Finlandia University.
Last Tuesday NCU (3-5) traveled to Duluth for a season rematch wtih Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opponent St Scholastica. The Rams were looking for redemption after allowing the Saints to overcome an 11 point halftime deficit to defeat NCU 76-72 back on November 17 in the North Central home and season opener. The rematch would be all North Central as the Rams built a 21 point halftime lead that was stretched to as many as 28 in the second half before NCU claimed an 81-62 victory. Senior Daniel Young (Crystal, Minn.) had one of the best performances of his career, shooting 11-13 from the floor including 4-4 from the three point area to score a game high 26 points. Young also led NCU with nine rebounds. Senior Jeremy Grilley (Columbia Falls, Mont.) added 14 points and junior Ross Johnson (Kenosha, Wis.) and freshman Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis.) each added 12 points for NCU which claimed its first road win over St Scholastica in school history.
Thursday saw NCU travel to Presentation College (Aberdeen, S.D.) looking to continue its winning ways over UMAC opponents. This time NCU would use a grind it out, defensive style to earn an important road victory. The Rams would trail only one time very early in the first half of a closely contested game before coming away with a 60-52 victory for their first win in Aberdeen since 2003. Nathan Roeder would lead all scorers with 18 points on the strength of a 9-10 shooting night from the free throw stripe. Jeremy Grilley continued to shine at the start of his senior season, posting a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Lamar Nygaard (Bismarck, N.D.) added his first double digit scoring effort with 10 points.
Saturday NCU came back home for a game verses Finlandia University (Hancock, Mich.). North Central would come up just short verses the Lions, falling 85-84 when a last second shot came up just short in one of the most exciting games NCU has played this season. NCU trailed 39-36 at halftime and battled well through out the second half, taking a one point lead with 11 seconds left on a jumper in the lane by Daniel Young. Finlandia got a score to go ahead with 4.7 seconds left and a final North Central shot was just long off the back of the rim to seal the Lions win. Jeremy Grilley scored a game high 29 points and led NCU with seven rebounds. Daniel Young added 19 points and Nathan Roeder scored 10 in the loss.
North Central will now travel west to Washington for a two game road trip verses teams from the Northwest Conference before heading home for the Christmas holiday. Thursday NCU plays at Whitworth University (Spokane, Wash.) at 7 pm and then visits Whitman College (Walla Walla, Wash.) for a 4 pm tip off on Saturday.