Start Slow, End Strong; Pick Up Ninth Straight Win

February 3, 2004

CROOKSTON, MN - Northern men's basketball squeaked by Crookston last night in a 78-75 victory. Sophomore Aaron Busack who had 26 points and 5 rebounds led Northern. The Wolves got off to a slow start not scoring until three minutes into the game. But the Eagles had a jump on scoring and led the entire first half. The Wolves let the deficit get to nine before they started to turn it around. By the time half time was upon them the Wolves were trailing by four.

It wasn't until five minutes had passed in the second half that the Wolves gained control. They stayed ahead but the Eagles never got too far behind. In the last few minutes the game was close, and with Northern's Matt Hammer fouling out with 3:21 to play and then Adam Grant also fouling out with 2:00 remaining it looked questionable, but the Eagles just ran out of time.

Busack put on an impressive show shooting 9 of 11 in the field and 72% from the line. Steve Smiley added 10 points and five rebounds to help his team, and Jarod Obering had 15 points and four rebounds. Also scoring in double digits for the Wolves was Grant with 12 points, he added 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Leading for the Eagle's was Jon Smith with 21 points and three assists. Also, adding 14 points each was Lee Roberts and Ahmid Palmer. Moorhead got off to a good start with a 5-0 lead but they weren't able to stay with the Wolves at the end. This Saturday, February 7, the Wolves will host MSU Moorhead at the Barnett Center at 8:00 pm.

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