ALL ALONE IN FIRST AFTER 93-84 WIN OVER GOLDEN BEARS

February 1 , 2002

Aberdeen, S.D. - The Northern State men's basketball team is all alone in first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference after defeating Concordia-St. Paul Saturday night, 93-84. The Wolves received some help from Minnesota-Duluth who knocked off Southwest State to send the Mustangs to 8-3 in the league.

NSU led by as many as 15 over the Bears in the first half and by as many as 18 in the second but CSP drew within five with 4:22 to play before Northern ended the game on a 13-9 run.

Jarod Obering paced the Wolves for the second straight night hitting for 17 on 4-of-9 from three-point range. The sophomore added four assists in the game as well.

Dustin Hjelmeland added 16 on 6-of-8 from the floor while NSU's Sundance Wicks came in with 14 points and six rebounds. Nick Schroeder and Matt Hammer were each in double-figures as well for Northern with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Steve Smiley had another nice night distributing the ball coming in with a team high seven assists while Wicks tossed in six.

Concordia's Dan Torrez and Brian Jamros each hit for 21 points for the Bears.

Northern State improves to 9-2 in the NSIC and holds a one-game advantage over Winona State and Southwest State. The Wolves will meet Southwest next Friday in Marshall, Minn.

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