MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- After an exciting start to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference season last week, the Rams are looking at a challenging pair of weekend road games on Friday and Saturday. NCU claimed two conference home wins last weekend but face a difficult road doubleheader in week two of league action as they travel to Crown College and the University of Minnesota-Morris over the next 24 hours.

North Central (7-6, 2-1) started its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) schedule with a narrow loss at Northwestern College (St. Paul, Minn.) last Tuesday. But the Rams rebounded by outlasting defending regular season champion and UMAC preseason coaches poll favorite Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) by a 103-94 final score last friday.

Saturday evening NCU found it difficult to match the emotions of their two previous games in their third conference tilt in five days as they fell behind by 13 at the half to Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.). North Central would end up trailing the entire second half before a pair of free throws from senior Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) gave NCU the lead with 1.3 seconds remaining to lift the Rams to victory.

North Central will return to action on Friday with a road match-up versus Crown College (St. Bonifacius) that has been chosen as the UMAC Game of the Week across the league schedule. Each week the conference selects a contest between two teams that has imporance to the league standings while also featuring key players or match-ups that are generating interest across UMAC.

Crown comes into the game with a 6-8 overall record and a 1-2 mark in league play. The Storm were tabbed to finish fourth in the UMAC preseason coaches poll and remain a team to watch for the conference post-season tournament. They are led by junior center Anthony Diloreto (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) who is averaging well over a double-double of 17.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game through the first 14 contests of the season. Those numbers are third and first in the UMAC respectively. He also leads the league with a stiffling 3.4 blocks per game. 

North Central swept Crown last season in a pair of exciting match-ups as the teams met as non-conference rivals in 2011-12. The Rams and Storm will tip off tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday the Rams will travel to The University of Minnesota-Morris (Morris, Minn.) for a battle with the Cougars who join the Rams as one of four teams standing 2-1 in UMAC play. Overall, the Cougars are 5-7 on the year and are led senior guard Steve Birman (Duluth, Minn./Denfield) who averages 12 points a game while standing as one of the most lethal three point shooters in the conference. Junior forward Brendon Foss (Hancock, Minn./Hancock) leads UMM in boards with 6.5 per game which places him seventh in the UMAC. 

The Cougars swept NCU in their two games as non-conference opponents last season. NCU and Morris will tip off at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

North Central is being led in scoring by senior guard Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) who also leads the UMAC with a 24.5 points per game average. Roeder also leads the league in steals per game (3.1) and is second in the league with 4.1 assists per contest.

The Rams also have three of the top ten rebounders in the league with junior Bryce Burkman (Winsted, Minn./Maple Grove) leading NCU at 7.3 boards a game which is third in the league. Sophomore Luke Chafin (Dayton, Minn./Troy Christian) and junior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) are sixth and ninth in the UMAC with 6.6 and 6.1 rebounds a game respectively.