Men's Basketball

Jan. 20th, 2007 -Aberdeen, S.D.	1st	2nd	Final	Records
University of Mary	20	37	57	7-11, 3-6 NSIC
Northern State	35	25	60	13-5, 6-3 NSIC

Kevin Ratzsch goes up for the dunk against the University of Mary Marauders

Wolves Hold on Against Marauders

January 20, 2007
ABERDEEN, S.D. - Despite being outscored by 12 in the second half against the University of Mary, the Northern State Wolves were able to hang on for a 60-57 victory. The Wolves were able to win in front of 5,118 fans at the Barnett Center. The game marked the first ever Wolves televised game in the Barnett Center, broadcast locally by KSFY. With the victory, the Wolves improve to 13-5, 6-3 NSIC and the Marauders fall to 7-11, 3-6 in the NSIC.

The Northern State Wolves jumped out to an early 9 point lead in the first eight minutes of the game at 14-5 over the Marauders and were able to withstand any attempts of a Mary run. They would also use a 6-0 run in the last 1:37 of the first half to take a 15 point lead at 35-20 going into the locker room.

In the half, the Wolves controlled the momentum in every aspect as they out rebounded the Marauders 18 to 15, had 9 assists to the Marauders' 7 and forced 9 turnovers to Mary's 7. The Wolves dominated the Marauders in field goal percentage as they shot 50.0% (13/26) in the half to the Marauders' 30.8% (8/26). The Wolves attempted 7 free throws to the Marauders' 2 and shot 44.4 % (4/9) from long range.

The Wolves were led by Kevin Ratzsch as he scored 12 points and snared 5 rebounds in the opening half. Levi Hamilton also had a nice half as he scored 11 points the only other NSU player in double figures. Mary was led by three different players who had 5 points apiece.

Northern was able to build it's lead to as many as 17 points at 47-30 with 12:01 left in the game. But the Marauders would use some clutch shooting from the outside and some Northern State errors to pull back to within 6 at 47-41 with just over eight minutes left to go in the game.

The Wolves would get a couple of key jumpers from Kevin Ratzsch down the stretch to help them secure the victory. Despite only shooting 50.0% (9/18) from the line in the game, the Wolves managed to get their 13 win on the year.

Northern State was led by Kevin Ratzsch as he posted a double double, putting in 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ratzsch shot 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from long range. Levi Hamilton and Craig Nelson were the only other players for the Wolves to score in double figures on the night. Hamilton had 16 on 6-of-10 shooting and Nelson had 11 on 3-of-9.

The University of Mary was led by Eric Erdman and Land Doppler who both had 13 points on the night. Erdman also had 6 rebounds Mary. For the game the, Wolves shot 45.8% (22/48) from the field to the Marauders' 34.5% (17/55). The Wolves also out-rebounded Mary 37 to 36 and had 17 assists to the Marauders 14.

The Wolves will be in action next when they take on #1 Winona State on Saturday January 27 in Wachs Arena. The game will be televised on FSN North and tip-off will be at 11:00 am.