MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Northland College Men's Basketball team scored a season-high 53 points in the second half but fell 99-80 to North Central University Friday night in Minneapolis, Minn., in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play. Senior
Jaden Jones led the team with a career-high 18 points.
After giving up the first basket,
Jordan Brennan started a LumberJacks eight-point run. Getting involved in the run was
Jahlani Thornton with four points and
Stephen Kesti capped it off with a jumper. The Rams retook the lead with 13 unanswered. Thornton cut the lead to four with nine minutes to play. A big injury after the basket saw a 20-minute break in the action. Coming out of that break the Rams scored six in a row.
Jaden Jones continued to add to his career night with a pair of jumpers to bring the score within five. To end the half NCU went on another run to go up nine.
Kesti started the scoring in the second half with his sixth point of the game. After a few traded baskets the Jacks were within seven from a layup from Thornton. That would be the closest Northland would get to lead as the Jacks could not match the pace of the Rams. Northland had its highest-scoring half of the season dropping 53 points and shooting just under 70 percent from the field, however, North Central scored 63 to win 99-80.
Coming off the bench Jones led the team with 18 points shooting 9-for-12 from the floor. Thornton and
Langston Flowers also reached doubled figures with 14 and 13 points respectively. Rounding out the top five in scoring was
Drew Lindberg and
Tyler Tuura with eight points. The Jacks had 15 assists with Brennan, Flowers and
Damian Cejka all with three.
Northland won the rebound battle 37-35 grabbing 10 offensive boards. Jones was leading with a season-high six. Three student-athletes recorded five rebounds; Brennan, Thornton, and Tuura. Tuura led the team with three offensive boards. Thornton had a game-high four steals, half of Northland's.
The Jacks continue the road trip tomorrow (Saturday) when they travel to the University of Northwestern for a 4:45 p.m., game
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
