ASHLAND, Wis.-- Men's Basketball never trailed and pulled away in the second half in their Upper Midwest Athletic Conference opener at Northland College on Saturday afternoon. The Rams got double-figure scoring from four starters in an 85-75 win over the Lumberjacks.

North Central (2-4, 1-0 UMAC) battled through a tight first half to lead 41-37 at the half. The Rams were able to build a 29-18 lead with 8 minutes left in the opening period before Northland rallied back. With less than three minutes to play in the half, the Jacks hit a three that trimmed the difference all the way down to 34-33. The Rams scored the final four points of the half and that was the difference at the break.

In the second half the game remained tight through the first few minutes before the Rams started to create distance between the teams. North Central went on a 15-4 run to lead 60-46 with 12 minutes left in the game. NCU would lead by as many as 19 at several points, the last coming with around 7 minutes left. 

Northland would fight back to get within 10 at the 3:55 mark on a free throw that made it 74-64. But freshman Jared High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) canned a three pointer on the Rams next possession to change momentum. After a defensive stop senior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) calmly sunk a pair of free throws to make it 79-64 with 3:12 left.

In the final three minutes the Rams would go 6-8 at the free throw line. That included sophomore Joel Cline (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest) going 4-6 in the final minute to end any last minute rally hopes for the Lumberjacks.

Joel Cline imposed himself on the game with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Jared High led the Rams with a game high 21 points and 5 boards. Senior Cody Martin was also influential with 15 points and 6 assists. Josh High ended up with 13 points and 4 assists to balance the Rams score sheet.

The Rams will be back in action next weekend with a pair of home UMAC match-ups. Friday the Rams take host The University of Minnesota-Morris (Morris, Minn.) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Saturday the Rams host Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) at 3 p.m.