Nov. 17, 2000

Northern outplayed Grand Valley State (Allendale, Mich.) in the second half, but it wasn't enough to make up for the team's abysmal first half as Grand Valley State came out on top 89-82 at the Minnesota State-Mankato Tip-Off Tournament Saturday.

In their first action of the season, the out-of-sync Wolves shot just 27 percent in the first half and found themselves down 43-17 going into the locker rooms. But instead of quitting, the team came out with a vengeance in the second half to make a game of it. NSU opened the second stanza with a 12-2 run and kept chipping away at the lead after that, coming to within four points with four minutes remaining. But even an offensive explosion of 65 points in the second half couldn't make up for the team's beginning.

NSU was led by junior post Brad Hansen (Tea) and junior point guard Roland Williams (Ft. Worth, Texas), who netted 19 points apiece. Hansen also came down with a team-high eight rebounds. GVS was led by Donte Smith's 26 points. Grand Valley was also helped out by more trips to the line, with the team hitting 28-of-32 free throws in comparison to NSU's 6-of-10 showing.