Feb. 2, 2001

A free-throw by sophomore guard Nick Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.) with two seconds remaining gave Northern State a narrow 77-76 win over Minnesota-Crookston Friday night in Aberdeen.

The win marked the first time in two months Northern State (10-9 overall, 6-5 NSIC) moved its record to over .500. The last time NSU's record was over 50 percent this season was at 3-2 going into the South Dakota State game Dec. 2.

Northern led for virtually the entire game and by as many as 13 points in the second half, but saw that lead whittle away in the final minutes. UMC (7-13, 4-8 NSIC) held a three-point advantage at 74-71 with about three minutes remaining, but NSU was able to circle the wagons in the final minutes and build a 76-74 advantage late on a clutch jumper from junior forward Brad Hansen (Tea). But UMC came back with a clutch shot of its own to knot the score with five seconds remaining. Schroeder caught a long inbounds pass and was fouled going to the basket with two ticks left. After making the first free-throw, he purposely missed the second to leave UMC with only a full-court prayer that went unanswered.

The Wolves were able to pull out the win despite a dismal night at the free-throw line. NSU shot just 13-of-29 (43 pecent) from the charity stripe on the night. Making up for that was a mammoth effort on the boards, as the Wolves out-rebounded UMC 51-37. Northern also ended up with 18 offensive rebounds. Leading the board crew for the Wolves was sophomore forward Ben Rops (Lennox), who came up with a career-high 10 rebounds on the night.

Hansen led NSU with 17 points and eight rebounds -- five of which were offensive caroms. Senior post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) was next on NSU's scoring list with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Junior guard Drew Gruver (Scott City, Kan.) rounded out NSU's double-digit scorers with 15 points. Joe Hasz led UMC with 18 points and 11 rebounds.