Seth Bachand and
Tydan Storrusten each scored a career-high 23 points as they led the Northern State men's basketball team to a 98-90 win over Southwest Minnesota State Friday evening in Marshall, Minn. The 98 points is a season-high as a team for the Wolves, who also shot a season-best 58.2 percent from the floor in the win.
Trailing 24-23 with 7:57 left to play in the first half, NSU (14-3, 8-3 NSIC) closed the half on a 21-11 run and took a 44-35 lead into halftime. That lead for the Mustangs (9-8, 5-6 NSIC) was their final of the contest. The Wolves were aided in their run to end the half thanks to three straight three-pointers by
Skye Warwick on three consecutive possessions. Warwick finished the game with 14 points and went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
The second half, Northern was scorching hot shooting, as it went 21-of-34 from the floor (61.8 percent) in the half and put up 54 second half points. The Wolves led much of the first part of the half by double digits and led by as many as 16, 62-46 with 13:22 left to play. Southwest would not go away and closed the gap to as little as four at 88-84 with 1:21 left to play. Northern was efficient in the waning moments of the game, going 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the free-throw line the final minute and change of the win.
Northern held a 54-36 edge in points in the paint in the victory and also had 20 points off of 15 SMSU turnovers, while committing just nine turnovers of its own and allowing the Mustangs to score 12 points off turnovers. Southwest held a slight 33-31 advantage on the boards and also had 15 second-chance points to Northern's 12. The Wolves also held an 8-2 lead in fast break points in the win.
Storrusten added six assists and four rebounds to go along with his career scoring night while Bachand grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and had three blocks.
Mitch White added six points, five assists and four steals in the win while
Darin Peterka scored 11, grabbed five rebounds, tallied three assists and two steals.
The win was Northern's first in Marshall since 2009. The Wolves return to action Saturday with a 6 p.m. contest at Sioux Falls.
