NORTHERN CLAIMS SHARE OF FIRST IN NSIC WITH 82-62 WIN OVER MINNESOTA-MORRIS

January 25, 2002

Aberdeen, S.D. - The Northern State men's basketball team improved its NSIC mark to 7-2 and moved into a three-way tie, with Winona State and Southwest State, for the conference lead with an 82-62 victory over Minnesota-Morris on Saturday night in Wachs Arena.

Northern took a 42-25 lead into halftime and extended its lead to as many as 31 before the Cougars finished down by the 82-62 score.

Northern State's young players saw a lot of the floor tonight as all four Wolves that scored in double-figures were freshmen and sophomores.

Matt Hammer led Northern with a career-high 18 points going 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Jarod Obering, Aaron Busack and Adam Grant each chipped in 11 for the Wolves on the night while Sundance Wicks led Northern on the glass with seven rebounds.

With the win, NSU Head Coach Don Meyer moved into 11th place on the all-time winningest coaches list in college basketball picking up his 759th career victory.

Northern State (10-7, 7-2 NSIC) will host Winona State on Jan. 31 in Wachs Arena.

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