Men's Basketball Defeats Albion 88-72

OVERVIEW – ALBION

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 88, Albion Britons 72

RECORDS: Northwood (2-9), Albion (2-4)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood hits 14 three-pointers en route to an 88-72 win over Albion Saturday afternoon (December 10).

FIRST HALF

• It was a defensive contest early, as the Timberwolves and Britons split the first 16 points five minutes in before both teams went on respective runs.
• Albion went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 16-8 for their largest lead with just under 13 minutes to play. Northwood responded with 11 of the next 13 points to take a one-point lead with 8:40 to play. The Britons would build their lead back up to four two minutes later, but again Northwood answered with a 16-7 run to close out the half up 38-33.
• The Timberwolves' attack was keyed by their impressive shooting from the field making 57.9 percent of their shots in the stanza (11-19), including 54.5 percent from behind the arc (6-11). The Britons, despite holding the lead for most of the half, shot 40.6 percent from the field (13-32) and 33.3 percent from three-point range (6-18). The Timberwolves' perfection from the free throw line contributed mightily to their lead, hitting a perfect 10 of 10 in the period.
• Turnover were the key to Albion staying close – NU committed 12 turnovers compared to five for Albion. The Britons held a 15-4 edge in points off turnovers in the opening half.

SECOND HALF

• The Timberwolves rode their hot shooting starting the second stanza on a 13-6 run to go up 51-39 just over four minutes into the period. Halfway through, that lead continued to stay at ten before extending to as large as 16 with five minutes to play as the Timberwolves eased their way to a victory by the same margin.
• Northwood continued their hot shooting for the rest of the game, making 53.1 percent of their attempts for the half (17-32), sinking 53.3 percent of their shots from behind the arc (8-15). Albion just could not keep up with the consistent attack of Northwood despite shooting 51.9 percent in the period (14-27). They made just 16.7 percent of their shots from three-point range (1-6).

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Northwood .549 (28-51), Albion .458 (27-59)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Northwood .538 (14-26), Albion .292 (7-24)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Northwood .783 (18-23), Albion .647 (11-17)
• REBOUNDS: Northwood 40 (10 offensive), Albion 22 (7 offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Albion 12/8, Northwood 17/16

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Matt Crowl: 19 points (6-7 from the floor), eight rebounds, two assists
• Zach Allread: 20 points (6-8 from the floor, 4-6 from 3-point range), four rebounds, four assists
• Brad Schaub: 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists
• Nick Spitzley: 13 points (3-5 3-Ptrs), three rebounds, two assists

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood outscored Albion off the second-chance 15-6 and on the fast break 7-2. The Britons got the better of the Timberwolves in the paint 30-18, off of turnovers 19-9, and off the bench 22-20.
• Allread finished with a career-high 20 points two days after matching his previous career-high of 19 points versus Findlay Thursday night.
• Crowl matched his career-high of 19 points. He has scored 19 three separate times this season. 

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host Walsh on Thursday (Dec. 15), for a game against the Cavaliers. Tip off is set for 8 p.m.