Minneapolis, Minn.-- The NCU men's basketball team hosted Northland College on Saturday night in a game that was featured as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Game of the Week. The Rams used great team and individual defense in route to a 76-54 win. 

North Central came into tonight's game against the Lumberjacks fresh off of a big win Friday night over the Saints of St. Scholastica. The Rams came out of the gates on Saturday night and struggled to get things going on the offenseive end. Yet, they used great man to man defense to hold Northland to only 11 points after more than 14 minutes of action. North Central took a 27-25 lead into the break.

The Rams opened the second half strong on both ends and used their defense to create offense. A Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./ Buffalo) three pointer capped a 10-0 run that gave NCU a 39-30 lead at the 14:38 mark. Just like the first half, the Rams defense stifled the Jacks as they held them to only 13 points over the first 16 minutes of play in the half. NCU would get things going offensively and go on to win 76-54.

The Rams were led by senior Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio / Troy Christian) as he put up 19 points, snagged a game-high 15 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists. Freshman Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis. / N.E.W. Lutheran) added 14 points and senior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) contributed 10 points to go along with 8 boards.

North Central held Northland to just 30.3% shooting (20-66). The Rams also won the rebounding battle by an impressive 50-33 margin. 

NCU set themselves up for a big final weekend of UMAC games as they will play host to Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) and the University of Minnesota Morris (Morris, Minn.). Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m Friday and 5 p.m Saturday.