Men's Basketball

Feb. 9th , 2007 -Aberdeen, S.D.	1st	2nd	Final	Records
Concordia, St. Paul	29	36	65	17-5, 10-3 NSIC
Northern State	42	30	72	16-7, 9-5 NSIC

Wolves Get Huge Win at Home

February 9, 2007
ABERDEEN, S.D. - Northern State improved to 16-7 overall and 9-5 in the NSIC as they defeated the Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears 72-65 in Aberdeen, S.D. With the loss the Golden Bears fall to 17-5 overall and 10-3 in the NSIC.

The first half was evenly played until the 13:55 mark with the Wolves and Golden Bears tied 12-12, but NSU pushed out an 18-2 run to take the lead 30-14 and gain their biggest lead of the half at 16. The rest of the half found the Golden Bears outscoring the Wolves 15-12, cutting the Wolves' lead to 13 with a 42-29 score at the half.

In the first half the Wolves were led by Kevin Ratzsch with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Ratzsch also led the Wolves in rebounding as he snared 4 in the half. Luke Wicks also had a good half, scoring 7 points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. The Golden Bears were led by Kyle Marxhausen with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.

In the half the Wolves out rebounded the Golden Bears 22 to 10 and also had 10 assists to the Golden Bears 2. The Wolves shot 57.1% (16/28) from the field to the Golden Bears 38.7% (12/31). The Wolves also shot 80.0% (4/5) from long range and 75.0% (6/8) from the free throw line.

Despite being out scored by sx in the second half (36-30), the Northern State Wolves were able to make some clutch free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. Concordia St. Paul started the second half by going on an early 7-0 run to cut the lead to six with 16:41 left in the game. The rest of the half would be close, but Luke Wicks would seal the deal when he hit a three point shot with just :35 second left to put the Wolves up 68-60.

In the game, the Wolves had three players in double figures as Ratzsch led the way with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and also grabbing 9 rebounds. Craig Nelson had 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting and Luke Wicks had 10 points on 2-of-5 shooting. Dan DeWitt had 8 assists in the game to lead the way.

Concordia St. Paul was led by Kyle Marxhausen who had 26 points on 10-of-23 shooting. Hey Peal was the only other player in double figures as he scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Marlon Walker led CSP in rebounding with 8 boards.

The Wolves shot 45.6% (26/57) from the field to the Golden Bears' 38.8% (26/67). The also shot 42.9% (6/14) from long range to CSP's 25.0% (5/20). The Wolves lead the way in rebounding as they had 40 rebounds to 36 and had 16 assists to the Golden Bears' 10.

The Wolves will be in action next when they take on MSU Moorhead on Saturday, February 10th at 8:00 pm in Wachs Arena.