Jan. 5, 2001

Northern State could have used the shooting of its number one fan Friday night in Aberdeen.

Longtime Northern State fan Nate Thompson wowed the crowd at halftime by nailing a 3-pointer with his eyes closed to win $100 as part of NSU's Halftime Shootout. During the game, however, the Wolves couldn't find the range from downtown, shooting just 5-of-24 (21 percent) for the game in a 67-79 loss to Minnesota-Duluth.

To put NSU's shooting woes into even deeper perspective, two of the team's five made 3-pointers came in the final minute of an already decided game, with junior guard Drew Gruver (Scott City, Kan.) tingling twine as the Wolves refused to give up. But it was too little, too late as NSU dropped to 6-7 on the year and 2-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Minnesota-Duluth improved to 6-6 overall and 3-1 in league play.

Highlighting the night for NSU was junior post Brad Hansen (Tea), who tied for a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Junior forward Houston Reed (Olathe, Colo.) led the Wolves on the boards with seven rebounds to go with 10 points. Sophomore forward Sundance Wicks (Gillette, Wyo.), back from an ankle injury that kept him sidelined the last two games, scored 13 on 6-of-9 shooting, while Gruver ended with 12 and senior post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) with 10 to round out NSU's double-digit scorers. UMD was led by Jake Nettleton and Chris Stanley, who netted 18 points apiece. Nettleton also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to post a double-double for UMD.

While NSU struggled from long range, Duluth hit timely 3-pointers all night to keep the Wolves at bay. The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 42 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range. UMD also out-rebounded NSU 47-35, with the Bulldogs grabbing 18 offensive caroms on the night.