Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University Wolves held off a persistent Presentation College squad Friday night, using 14 three-pointers to overcome some early foul trouble and pull away with an 87-68 victory over the cross-town foe in non-conference men's basketball action.
    The win marks NSU's third victory in the past four days as the Wolves move to 3-0 on the young season.  PC finds itself at 0-1 on the year despite the strong showing.
    The Wolves had six players connect from long range in the win, led by Arlington, S.D. natives Mitch Boeck and Jordan King, who drained four treys apiece.  Boeck had three in the second half alone as the junior guard scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half.
    Senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.) led all players with 22 points, 15 of which came in the second period.  All told, the Wolves had four players in double figures, as Robert Thomas (Mankato, Minn.) put up a season-high 13 points and picking up three blocked shots in 29 minutes of play.
    The Saints kept things a little too close for comfort in the first half, badgering the Wolves into 12 turnovers  in that first stanza and keeping up step-for-step in the running game.  PC took an early 6-2 lead and would not relent on either end of the court.
    NSU did not take the lead until the 14:30 mark, and did not take the lead for good until Boeck's first trey of the night put the Wolves up 23-20 at the 5:36 mark of the first half.  The Wolves slowly carved out a 9-point cushion in the final five minutes of the half, then used solid outside shooting in the second half to gradually pull away, ending up with the 87-68 victory.
    Junior Stephone Sese and senior Lucas Bruns had 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead the way for the Saints.
    NSU will take the weekend off before taking on Jamestown College in a 7 p.m. matchup on Monday.  The Wolves will be looking to avoid a repeat of last year's contest, when NSU needed overtime to take an 82-77 win over the Jimmies.