Men's Basketball Falls At Xavier 102-68 In Final Exhibition Contest

CINCINNATI, OHIO - The Northwood University men's basketball team fell 102-68 at Xavier for the final exhibition game before the regular season Saturday night (November 8).

The Timberwolves got off to a slow start, committing two turnovers and being called for an offensive foul less than three minutes into the contest as Xavier led 8-2. NU cut the lead to four at the first media timeout, trailing 11-7. The Musketeers pulled ahead 24-16 at the 10:36 mark before the Timberwolves cut the lead to six at 33-27. Xavier eventually took a 47-32 lead into halftime. Again, fouls played a key factor in the opening half, as Northwood was whistled for 10 fouls including seven on NU's post players Matt Crowl (White Pigeon, Mich.) – 4 – and Casey Boyle (Grayslake, Ill./Grayslake Central) – 3. The Musketeers shot 55.2 percent from the floor (16-29) and 60.0 percent from beyond the arc (3-5), compared to Northwood's 34.5 percent (10-29) and 30.8 percent (4-13), respectively.

Xavier outscored Northwood 25-15 to open the second half leading 72-47 with 11:20 remaining. Northwood fought but got no closer the rest of the way.

For the game, Northwood shot 34.4 percent from the floor (21-61), while Xavier finished at 61.7 percent (37-60). The Timberwolves connected on eight 3-pointers, while the Musketeers connected on 23-29 from the foul line. Northwood finished 18-22 from the charity stripe.

Four Timberwolves finished in double-figures. Leading the way for Northwood was junior point guard Maurice Jones (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill/USC). He scored 17 points while adding eight assists and four steals. Jermaine Myers (Ajax, Ontario/Culver Academy/Fordham U.) finished with 14 points, while Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind) and Charlie Ryan (Novi, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Northwood will open the regular season at the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge hosted by Saginaw Valley on Nov. 14 and 15. The Timberwolves are slated to play Bellarmine on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and St. Joseph's on Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. start.