It’s the first win of the season for Northwest (1-1), which rebounded from a five-point loss to Southwest Minnesota State Sunday. It was an exhibition game for Graceland, an NAIA program from Iowa.
Northwest held Graceland to five first-half field goals and clamped down on the Yellowjackets’ top scorers all night. Jake Smith, who has averaged a team-best 17 points per game for Graceland, had two points on 1-for-8 shooting Thursday. Nick Mikle and Chris Henderson-Wells came in averaging 11 points per game each, but combined for five Thursday on 1-for-11 shooting.
Graceland was held scoreless for more than eight minutes in the first half and didn’t get its first two-point field goal until Henderson-Wells made a layup with 2:37 left. The Bearcats, meanwhile, committed 12 first-half turnovers and made 2-of-12 three-pointers against the Yellowjackets’ zone defense. Northwest led 29-18 at the break.
Narayan and DeShaun Cooper drilled 3’s during the Bearcats’ 15-4 run to open the second half. Four of Narayan’s five treys came in the second frame. Cooper scored 10 second-half points and drew the biggest cheers from the home crowd after capping a fast break with a dunk and a foul. Cooper completed the three-point play and finished with 12 points.
The Bearcats held a considerable size advantage and finished with a 47-22 edge on the boards. Arunas Simanavicius finished one rebound shy of a double-double for the Bearcats and scored 10 points.
Northwest forward Elijah Allen took just four shots Thursday but had no problem filling the stat line. He had six rebounds, a career-high four blocks, three steals and two assists.
Nate Martin came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and led Graceland with 13 points. Tyler Raasch scored all nine of his points in the first half. Trae Patton added six for the Yellowjackets.
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For this news release and a complete list of others, go to www.northwestbearcats.com
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