BOX SCORE
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The weather may have been cold outside, but for the Wolves, things were just as cold inside. Despite poor shooting, the Wolves were able to pull off a 60-52 win over Concordia-St. Paul Saturday night. The Wolves shot a season low 36% from the field for the game. For the second consecutive night, Craig Nelson was the leading scorer for the Wolves, finishing the game with 15 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from the three point line. The Wolves improve to 22-2 overall, 11-2 in the NSIC. The Golden Bears fall to 13-9 overall and 7-7 in the NSIC.
The Wolves struggled shooting in the first half and found themselves down by as many 13 points. A three pointer by Matt Hacl put the Bears up by 28-15 with seven minutes left in the half. Northern kept fighting despite cold shooting and a tip in by Robert Thomas cut the lead to nine with three minutes left. The Bears were held scoreless for the last 3:46, but the Wolves would still go into halftime trailing 30-23.
The Wolves came out in the second half with an extra bounce in their step. They cut the Golden Bears' lead to three with a Luke Wicks free throw at the 7:44 mark. The Bears would continue to thrive and were able to open up their lead to as many as seven in the second half. CSP did not have the strength to keep the lead, however, and the Wolves stormed back. Craig Nelson hit a three pointer with ten minutes left to get to within one, 41-40. Both teams would go scoreless for the next five minutes, but the Wolves would take their first lead of the second half on two free throws by Levi Hamilton at the 5:55 mark. The Wolves would not relinquish the lead from thereon. Excellent free throw shooting in the last five minutes allowed the Wolves to widen the gap as they went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe to close out the contest. The Golden Bears could not mount a comeback and the Wolves picked up their 16th victory in their last 17 games by a final of 60-52.
The Wolves shot 18-of-50 from the field for the game and 30.8% from the three point line connecting on 4-of-13 shot attempts. The Wolves were almost perfect from the free throw line making 20-of-23 in the game for 87%. Nelson was the leading scorer for the Wolves, finishing the game with 15 points off of 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from the three point line. Kevin Ratzsch finished the game with a double double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Levi Hamilton put in 13 points shooting 4-of-8 from the field. Luke Wicks was the final Northern State player in double figures, fininishing with 10 points. The Wolves were solid handling the ball on the evening, only turning the ball over 5 times in 40 minutes of play.
The Golden Bears also struggled shooting from the field, shooting 20-of-61 for 32.8% from the floor and only 5-of-28 from behind the arc for 23.8%. James Metcalf finished the game with a double double, connecting on 5-of-12 shots for 13 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Jason Birr finished the game with 12 points. CSP outrebounded the Wolves 47-30 but had a game high 12 turnovers on the night.
The Northern State Wolves are back at home next weekend to take on Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston at 8 pm.
