Box Score ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
This week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Saturday, February 14 as North Central University hosts Northland College (Ashland, Wis.) in men's basketball action. Heading into the weekend both teams own 4-6 UMAC records and are tied for fourth place in the league standings. With the top four teams from the regular season earning a spot in the UMAC Postseason Tournament, Saturday's game is sure to be a battle as the Rams and the LumberJacks look to stay in the hunt for a postseason berth.
About the LumberJacks
Northland comes into the weekend battling to keep their playoff hopes alive. After coming within three points of sweeping the season series against The University of Minnesota Morris, the Jacks split the previous weekend, picking up a crucial win from their home game against Crown College (74-64). Currently, the Jacks hold a conference record of 4-6, and are 8-13 overall. With a conference sweep this coming weekend, the Jacks could be looking at a strong chance for one of the final playoff spots.
The Jacks will look to continue their strong defensive play, as they currently sit at the top of the UMAC statistics in defensive 3PT percentage at 32.9%. Head Coach Scott Sorenson expects a good matchup, as North Central University leads the conference in 3PT at 42.5%. Offensively, the Jacks have proven to be a versatile force. With seven players averaging between 5.6 and 9.1 PPG, Northland will continue to share the ball, making their gameplay much more unpredictable.
About the Rams
North Central will come into this weekend after breaking a four game losing skid with a 87-75 win over Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) last Saturday in Mankato. Prior to that losing streak the Rams had won five of their previous seven games going back to December 19 when they defeated Hamline University (St. Paul, Minn.) in St. Paul in the final game of 2014. That stretch included defeating the two teams the Rams will host this weekend, The College of St. Scholastica (Duluth, Minn.) and Northland on January 16-17 on their home courts in Duluth and Ashland.
North Central responded to a last second loss in overtime at Martin Luther last Friday by defeating Bethany Lutheran one week ago in a game that was also featured as the UMAC Game of the Week. Five Rams reached double-digit scoring in that win including Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) who scored 22 points with 7 rebounds and 6 assists. The Rams got a big spark off the bench with freshmen Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis./N.E.W. Lutheran) and Joel Cline (Green Bay, Wis./West) scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. Chafin and fellow senior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) will continue to give the Rams an inside and outside scoring pair that is among the best in the UMAC this season. Voigt, senior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn.) and junior Cody Martin (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) also combine to give the Rams the best three point shooting percentage (.425) in conference action this season.
In the Rams 69-46 victory at Northland in January Luke Chafin led the Rams with a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards while Josh High added 12 points and 7 steals. The Rams held the Jacks to .219 (14-64) shooting while firing .509 (27-53) themselves. The 46 points allowed by the Rams in that match-up is the lowest total allowed by the NCU defense this season.
Game Notes
- North Central's Luke Chafin leads the UMAC in overall scoring (18.3 PPG) and is second in the UMAC in conference action with 20.1 PPG.
- Northland is currently leading the UMAC in FT percent both in conference and overall, at 73.7%.
- North Central's Jordan Harrell is currently second in the UMAC in rebounding within conference action with 8.4 RPG and tops in the league overall with 7.8 RPG.
- Northland's Dan Campion leads the conference in the assist to turnover ratio (3.04), and is nationally ranked 9th in the NCAA Div III standings. Campion also sits at 2nd in the conference for assists/game (3.9).
- The Rams' Travis Voigt continues as the top three point percentage shooter in the UMAC firing over 51% on the season as one of just two players in the league averaging 2 or more made three point shots per game.
- Senior Zach Ringhouse needs 66 points to reach a notable career 1000 points at Northland.
- Josh High is tied for the most made three point shots per game, averaging 2.6 trifectas per contest for the Rams.
- 72% of total points on the season for Northland have come from underclassmen.
- The Rams are tops in the UMAC in shooting from the floor, firing .406 on the year and are fourth in points allowed averaging 73.7 points allowed per game.
