Box Score

CROOKSTON, Minn. – Despite a sluggish start to the night, the Northern State University Wolves put together one of their best second halves of the season to claim a 79-53 victory over the host Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action.

The Wolves, who had not lost to the Golden Eagles since UMC joined the Northern Sun in 1999, found themselves trailing by one at halftime of Saturday's contest, but rebounded with a 78.3 percent shooting effort in the second half to pull away with the win.  NSU senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.) scored 17 of his 19 points in that second period, while junior center Rob Thomas (Mankato, Minn.) poured in 12 of his game-high 20 in the final stanza.

Thomas, a 6-foot-10 center, dominated the inside game for the Wolves, who scored 44 of their 79 points in the paint.

After struggling to find the shooting touch in the first half, the Wolves missed just five shots in the second half, going 18-for-23 from the floor – including 2-for-2 from long range – to finish the night shooting 55.6 percent.

On the other end of the floor, the Wolves held UMC to just a 39.6 percent effort on the night, while forcing 14 turnovers and holding the Golden Eagles to just 16 points in the paint.

NSU used a 9-0 run early in the second period to gain control of the game and another 12-0 run that covered nearly four minutes of play to stretch their lead from seven points to a solid 19 with 10 minutes left to play.  UMC never recovered as the Wolves won going away.

NSU redshirt freshman Alex Thomas (Independence, Minn.) joined the double-digit club with 11 points on the night on 5 of 6 shooting from the floor, joining Ratzsch and Rob Thomas as the only three players in double figures.  All told, all but three players who saw time on the floor put points on the board for the Wolves.

Ratzsch also notched his fourth double-double of the season, pulling down 11 rebounds to go along with his 19 points, helping the Wolves to a 38-28 rebounding advantage. 

The Golden Eagles got 17 points from Akeem Cubie and another 10 from Matt Pelzer.

The win concludes a 2-week road swing for the Wolves, who return home next weekend to host perennial NSIC rival Winona State on Friday and Upper Iowa on Saturday.  Both games are slated for 8 p.m. starts.