ABERDEEN, S.D. - For the first time in more than two years, Northern State's men's basketball team surpassed the century mark, downing Midland Lutheran College (3-12) 106-78 on Friday evening. The Wolves are currently ranked #24 in the nation and improve to 11-1 on the season. They host Colorado Christian at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
The Wolves outscored the Warriors 52-25 by halftime and, although Midland Lutheran hung with Northern in the second half, the Wolves tacked on 54 additional points to reach their final score of 106 points. The last time Northern scored more than 100 points in a game was in a 103-92 win over Augustana College on December 17, 2005.
The Wolves hit 13 three-point shots in their win on Friday evening, including four from
Derek Hoellein. They shot 51.6% (33-64) from the field in the game and 81.8% from the charity stripe, where they took 33 total attempts (27-33). The Wolves also pulled down more rebounds than the Warriors, grabbing 38 to MLC's 25.
Northern had four players finish the game in double figures for scoring.
Levi Hamilton led the pack with 16 points, making 6-of-7 shots from the field and all four of his free throw attempts. Hoellein finished the game with 15 points and three assists, followed by
Kevin Ratzsch with 11 points and
Dan Magrino with ten.
Robert Thomas nabbed a team high six rebounds.
Jordan King dished out four of the squad's 16 assists. The Wolves received 59 points from their bench.
Midland Lutheran had a respectable game, shooting 51.1% from the field. They could not compete with the Wolves in long range shooting, however, as they had just seven total three-point attempts. The Warriors committed 14 turnovers in the game, which led to an astonishing 26 points.