Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State University freshman Jared Hannigan hit five treys in four minutes and ten seconds, carving out a new career-high for himself by the 11 minute mark of the first half and the Wolves never looked back, cruising to a 94-67 victory over the visiting University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles and claiming their fourth straight victory.

With the win, the Wolves climbed back above the .500 mark for the first time since the start of the new year and now sit in a tie for eighth place in the league standings at 11-10 overall and 7-10 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.  UMC, meanwhile, slipped to 6-14 overall and 2-14 in the loop, having dropped 10 of their last 11 games.

The Golden Eagles opened the game with a pair of three-pointers from senior Eric Dearden and held an early 6-2 lead, but watched it quickly fade from their grasp.  Hannigan broke an 8-8 tie with his first trey of the night, then proceeded to drain his next four attempts from long range in systematic fashion.  Redshirt freshman Tydan Storrusten fed Hannigan on the final three of those, bringing the crowd to its feet and forcing the Golden Eagles to call a time-out.

The stoppage did little to slow the Wolves, however, who hit five of their next seven attempts from the floor to stretch their lead to 18 and to 23 by the end of the period.  The Golden Eagles never got closer than 24 in the second half.

NSU sophomore Collin Pryor led all NSU players with 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his tenth double-double of the year.  Pryor went 8-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line while snagging six of the Wolves' 17 offensive rebounds.  

Storrusten was also perfect from the floor, going 3-for-3 with a pair of treys and four free throws to add an even dozen off the bench.  Hannigan finished with 17 points, all in the first half, while senior Tom Parks drilled four treys and 14 points.

Junior David Lane finished with nine points, nine assists and three steals for the Wolves.  As a team, the Wolves came up with 21 second-chance points and picked up 45 points from their bench players.

Junior forward Larry Brown paced the Golden Eagles with 22 points, the only player for UMC to reach double figures.  Daerden finished with nine despite the early treys to open the night.

The Wolves now face a pair of critical match-ups next weekend as they close out the home portion of their slate against Augustana and Wayne State on Friday and Saturday, respectively.  The Vikings are sitting third in the league standings at 15-6 overall and 12-5 in NSIC games, while the Wildcats are tied with NSU for the eighth place spot with identical 11-10 and 7-10 marks.

Both games are slated for 8 p.m. tip-offs following the conclusion of the women's contests.  The Wolves will honor their seniors and parents at the contests, both of which will be carried live on Midco SportsNet.