Jan. 28, 2000

One word best describes Northern State's 79-67 win over touring Southwest State Saturday night: Grit.

The Wolves scrapped, clawed and frustrated a good Southwest State team which came into the game on a scoring binge, ringing up Bemidji State for 93 points last week.

NSU was led by senior guard Scott Hanson (Tolna, N.D.), who tied a career high with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He became the 36th member of NSU's 1,000 point club, now with 1,022 career points. Junior post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) and freshman guard Nick Schroeder (Osseo, Minn.) each netted 14, while sophomore paint enforcer Andy Foster (Caledonia, Minn.) ended with 12 points. SSU was led by Jacob Fahl's 14 points.

Despite only shooting 17 times in the first half, the Wolves made the most of what were good looks, converting on 12 (71 percent). Some of those good looks included five dunks on the game, with Foster and Dahl doing the honors. But even taking into account some gorilla slams that left NSU's basket shaking for minutes, the fan highlight of the night was no doubt on the defensive end, courtesy sophomore post Brad Hansen (Tea).

On what looked to be a sure dunk coming from the baseline by SSU's 6-10 sophomore center Chad Koenen, Hansen came out of nowhere to meet Koenen at the height of his jump and erase the once-sure throw-down. Hansen led NSU with six rebounds to go with six points and two blocks on the night.

The Wolves opened a 36-28 lead going into the locker rooms and would let the Mustangs get no closer than five points in the second half.