Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – When the outside game turned against them, the Northern State University Wolves turned to the inside game.  A night after draining 10 three-pointers, the Wolves found the arc ice-cold on Wednesday, going just 2-for-13 from long range.  Instead, the Wolves scored 48 of their 73 points on the night from inside the paint, while draining 15 of 16 free throw attempts to turn back Mount Marty College Wednesday evening 73-44 for their second win in as many days to open the 2009-10 season.

The Wolves opened the game with three straight lay-up baskets to build a quick 6-0 cushion.  MMC aided the effort with turnovers on their first four possessions of the night.  The Lancers did not get on the scoreboard until the 15:44 mark on a Jeff Viereck put-back of his own missed shot.

NSU, however, did not take advantage of the sloppy opening, allowing the Lancers to cut the lead to just two points on two different occasions, the second coming with 9:41 left in the half when Weston Kusser turned a steal into a lay-up to make it 14-12 and forcing an NSU timeout.

This time, however, it was the Lancers' turn not to capitalize on the momentum, as NSU took off on a 12-0 run to claim their first double digit lead of the night.  Senior Mitch Boeck nailed his only 3-pointer of the night to spark that run, while junior Derek Hoellein capped it with a trio of free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

NSU would extend the lead to as many as 16 points before heading into the break with a 12-point 32-20 edge.  The Lancers briefly cut it to 11 in the opening minute of the second half, but that's as close as they would get the rest of the night as the Wolves broke things open midway through the half and never looked back.

Redshirt freshman Collin Pryor was 7-for-10 from the field to finish with a game-best 14 points.  Freshman Marko Filipovic added 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench, going 4-for-4 from the line in the process.

Now 2-0 on the season, the Wolves went 16-of-28 from the field in the second half and finished 28-of-57 (49.1 percent) on the night.  However, the Wolves shot the ball at a 93.8 percent clip from the charity stripe, a marked improvement over Monday's 21-for-33 performance.

MMC's Jared Wall had nine points and seven boards to lead the way for the Lancers, now 1-5 overall.  Stephen Klekas added eight points on a pair of long-range treys late in the game.

The Wolves will take Thursday off, but are back on the court on Friday for an 8 p.m. tip-off against cross-town foe Presentation College.  That game will follow the conclusion of the women's game.