Dynamic Duo Lead Way In Strong Team Effort

February 7, 2004

ABERDEEN, SD - If Northern State men's basketball fans were expecting to see another breakout individual performance on Saturday night versus MSU Moorhead, they might have walked away from the Barnett Center a bit disappointed. What they did see, however, was a solid all-around team performance by a group of guys playing very well together. The harmony and cohesiveness of the entire team resulted in a 81-66 win over the Dragons of Moorhead.

The Wolves would use their strong starts in both halves to build up some breathing room in order to gain advantages. In the first half, the Wolves jumped out to a 9-0 lead courtesy of hoops from Adam Grant and Matt Hammer. The sophomore dynamic duo would end up combining for 44 of the Wolves points with both players scoring 22.

After trading hoops for the better part of the first half, the Dragons would take their first lead courtesy of a Rob Sulliven jumper at 9:14 of the first half. The Dragons and Wolves would then test each other in a staring contest as the lead would change hands six times with in a five minute span.

The Wolves would mount one last offensive to close out the 1st half by building a nine point lead going into the intermission. The run would be fueled strong defense and sharp shooting as Northern forced four turnovers would hit three 3's. The Wolves led 41-32 at half-time.

The 2nd half was much the same story. The Wolves would come out strong. They eventually built a 17 point lead around the 10:00 mark. The Wolves would build their biggest lead of the game of 18 on a 3-pointer by Adam Grant at the 5:18 mark.

The different in the contest was Northern's relentless attack on the basket as they were able to produce 36 points in the paint in contrast to MSUM's 20. After Grant and Hammer, Obering was the next leading scorer with 13 points. Grant led both teams with eight rebounds.

The Wolves will be back in action next weekend when the play Minnesota, Crookston on Friday night and then face off against NSIC leader Bemidji on Saturday night. Tip-off for both games is 8:00 pm.

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