Minneapolis, MN -- This afternoon, the North Central University (NCU) Men's Basketball team made their way back to Clark-Danielson Gymnasium to host a matchup against the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) Yellowjackets. Earlier this season, the Yellowjackets took the 89-87 victory over the Rams to kick off conference play. Today, North Central sought revenge and defeated Superior with a final score of 79-76 to even the season series.
The Rams were off to a hot start at the beginning of the first half, opening things up with an 8-0 run. They dominated both offensive and defensively with plays early on from the McNeal twins and
Remy Wedgeworth-Brown. North Central was able to hold a strong lead throughout the beginning of the first half with help from captain
Tanner Holtman, who contributed crucial 3-pointers to further the gap between the Rams and Yellowjackets. The team's defense was active, forcing turnovers and collecting rebounds, with
Malik Siggers making key steals and blocks. North Central's fastbreak opportunities were critical as they pushed the pace and challenged UWS at the rim. The Rams were feeling it all half, shooting 17-25 (68%) from the field and 5-9 (55.6%) from deep taking a 39-33 lead into the half.
Things began to tighten up as the teams returned from the half. UWS came back with new momentum and began to chip away at the gap by driving hard to the rim and finding success in the paint.
Tanner Holtman continued to assist on both ends of the floor, with several three-pointers, rebounds, and blocks. With 11:45 remaining, the Yellowjackets took their first lead of the evening at 47-46. The game went back and forth as the teams traded buckets. NCU's offense started to sputter and Superior took advantage to open up their largest lead of the game at 5 points with 6 minutes to play.
Malik Siggers started to take over offensively, scoring 8 straight points to give his team the lead once more. Down the stretch, North Central did a good job forcing the Yellowjackets into tough contested three-pointers that led to stops. In the last moments of the contest, NCU played the free throw game as UWS did all they could to extend the game. A last-second heave by a Yellowjacket would fall short and NCU walked away with the 79-76 victory.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
On Wednesday, February 5th, the men will remain at home to face the Northland College (NC) Lumberjacks. The game is set to begin at 5:30 PM.
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