Men's Basketball

Dec. 15th, 2006 -Aberdeen, S.D.	1st	2nd	Final	Records
Jamestown College	24	40	64	9-3, 1-0 DAC-10
Northern State University	43	35	78	7-4, 2-2 NSIC

 

Wolves Hang on for the 78-64 Victory

December 15, 2006
ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State (7-4, 2-2 NSIC) was able to withstand some Jamestown (9-3, 1-0 DAC-10) runs in the second half on their way to their seventh victory of the season, 78-64. Kevin Ratzsch led the Wolves with a double double as he dumped in 27 points and snared a career high 12 rebounds in the contest.

The Wolves dominated the first half of play against the Jimmies as they made 18 of 33 field goals for 54.5% to the Jimmies 9 of 31 for only 29.0% to take a commanding 43-24 lead into the break. The Wolves shot 45.5% (5 of 11) to the Jimmies' 25.0% (9 of 31) from long range. Kevin Ratzsch led the Wolves as he had 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting while snaring 6 rebounds. Dan Magrino came off the bench for the Wolves and gave them a nice lift as he scored 8 points on 4 of 4 shooting in only six minutes of action.

Northern State was able to take a slight advantage on the boards into halftime as they had 21 to Jamestown's 18. They had 15 assists to go with their 18 field goals in the half and they only had 5 turnovers to the Jimmies 9.

In the second half, the Jimmies cut the Wolves lead to 14 with more then sixteen minutes left in the contest, but Northern was able to push the margin back up to as many as 20 points at 66-46 with just under eight minutes to go in the game. In last 7:47, the Jimmies out-scored the Wolves 18-12, but it wasn't enough to catch up.

Including Ratzsch, the Wolves had four players in double figures. Levi Hamilton, Craig Nelson, and Dan Magrino each had 10 apiece in the victory. Magrino's 10 points tied his career high. Ratzsch posted NSU's first double double of the season with 27 points and a career high 12 boards. Dan DeWitt also had a good night, scoring nine points while dishing out six assists. For the game the Wolves shot 50.8% (30/59) from the field and 38.9% (7/18).

The Jimmies Kyle Iverson led all players with 32 points on 12 of 19 shooting and snared 8 rebounds. Lawrence Brooks posted a double double for the Jimmies has he poured in 11 points and brought down 10 rebounds, with seven of those being on the offensive end. The Jimmies only shot 33.3% (23/69) from the field only 25.0% (5/20) from behind the arc.

The Wolves were able to out-rebound the Jimmies 43 to 41 on the night and had 22 assists to the Jimmies' 7. The only downfall in shooting for the Wolves was their 57.9% (11/19) performance from the free throw line. The Wolves had 34 points in the paint to the Jimmies 20 and had 13 points off turnovers to the Jimmies 6.

The Wolves will be in action again on December 16 when they host Black Hill State University at 8:00 pm in Aberdeen, S.D.