Jan. 27, 2001

A night removed from a gut-wrenching loss at conference leader Southwest State, a never-say-die Northern State team proved its mettle Saturday night with a 75-70 win in hostile territory at Wayne State (Neb.).

The win was NSU's first in the Wildcats' always-raucous Rice Arena since the first game of the 1993-94 season. Unlike the win that night, when NSU icon Eric Kline went off for 31 points and now-assistant coach Paul Sather led the team with nine rebounds, NSU's more recent victory couldn't have been much more balanced in terms of the final stat sheet.

Sophomore forward Sundance Wicks (Gillette, Wyo.) led five players scoring in double-digits with 13 points and also pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Senior post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) scored 12 points and grabbed five boards. Junior point guard Roland Williams (Ft. Worth, Texas) chipped in 11 points, as did sophomore sharpshooter Nick Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.). Junior forward Houston Reed (Olathe, Colo.) added 10 points and four boards. The team's leader in assists came from an unlikely position in power forward Brad Hansen (Tea), who tallied four assists to go with four points and six rebounds. WSC was led by Nathan Mulder's 19 points.

NSU held narrow leads for virtually the entire game, never building a double-digit margin. WSC's only lead came midway through the second half. WSC led by as many as five points at 56-51 with 12 minutes remaining, but NSU answered with an 11-0 run to regain the lead and control of the game. The Wolves iced the game in the final minute by hitting eight straight free-throws.