WOLVES GAIN SOLE POSSESSION OF NSIC LEAD WITH WIN AT MSU-MOORHEAD

Feb. 9, 2002

Northern State earned a hard-fought 80-64 win over Minnesota State-Moorhead Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. The win and a loss by Minnesota-Duluth puts the Wolves in sole possession of first place in the conference.

NSU stayed close but trailed the Dragons for nearly the entire first 30 minutes of play. With around 12 minutes remaining in the game, a heated face-to-face confrontation at the scorers table between NSU head coach Don Meyer and MSUM coach Mike Olson stoked the intensity meter at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse to a fever pitch.

But the Wolves more than handled the hostile road environment, going on a 25-12 run and ending the game on a 37-20 run from the midcourt misunderstanding.

Junior sniper Nick Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.) led all scorers with 19 points. Schroeder went 5-of-8 from downtown, including some clutch treys during NSU's big push. Senior guard Drew Gruver (Scott City, Kan.) was second on NSU's scoring list with 18 points. Junior forward Sundance Wicks (Gillette, Wyo.) led everyone on the boards with nine rebounds to go with eight points.MSUM (13-9, 7-7 NSIC) was led by Jared Bledsoe's 15 points.

The win tied coach Meyer with legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen for career victories. The two are now 12th on the men's basketball collegiate coaching all-time wins list with 746 victories.

Northern (17-6, 12-3 NSIC) now has its conference championship destiny in its own hands. The team will have to get by league contenders Bemidji State (13-9 overall, 10-4 NSIC) and Minnesota-Duluth (13-9 overall, 11-3 NSIC) at home next weekend to move toward securing the conference regular season crown. BSU upset Duluth this weekend in Duluth.