Box Score 

ST. PAUL – Northwestern College scored the biggest win of its 2012-2013 season so far on Friday night as the Eagles handed ninth-ranked (d3hoops.com) Wheaton College (Ill.) its first loss of the year, 67-62. Down by nine at the beginning of the second half, NWC chipped away at the Thunder margin before retaking the lead and ultimately making free throws to ensure the victory. Wheaton was the second team from last year's NCAA Tournament that Northwestern has beaten this season.

Neither team was able to establish much of a lead in the first half. Northwestern led by one and two points in the sixth minute before Wheaton took a slim margin of its own three minutes later. The Thunder's 24-19 advantage with 4:14 left in the period was the widest lead for either team until Nate Serenius hit a jump shot with six seconds to go to send Wheaton into the locker room with a six-point buffer at 30-24. The Thunder's perimeter defense forced NWC into 12 first half turnovers, but the Eagles' 47 percent shooting rate was nine percent better than the visitors.

Peter Smith's three-pointer 12 seconds into the second period gave the Thunder their biggest lead of the game at nine. Northwestern's Daniel Petkau (Rib Lake, Wis./Rib lake) started a comeback with a layup a minute later, and the Eagles were within a point when Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) drained a three at 36-35. Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School)'s layup at the 12:30 mark tied the score, signaling that NWC wasn't going away in this one.

With the score knotted at 47 points apiece, Petkau and Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) connected for two- and three-point baskets, giving the Eagles their largest margin of the night (five) with 6:37 to play. That lead lasted for two minutes until Wheaton came back for one more run, stealing a one-point advantage back. Gisler and Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell), both of whom scored 10 second half points for Northwestern, each made good on a pair of free throw attempts and NWC entered the final two minutes of regulation with a 58-55 lead. The Thunder came within a point on two more occasions, but Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) was a perfect 4-4 at the charity stripe in the final 24 seconds to give the Eagles a 67-62 upset win.

Northwestern committed just two mistakes in the second half and rode out the final 12 minutes of the game without a turnover while converting 12 of 13 free throw opportunities in the 40-minute contest. The Eagles made 24-51 (47.1 percent) of their attempts from the floor while making seven of 15 (46.7 percent) three-point attempts. Wheaton was held to 38 percent shooting for the game, going just four of 23 from long range.

Gisler finished 6-8 for an 18-point night to lead the Eagles, with Chitwood close behind at 16 points. Petkau complemented his four points on offense with 16 of Northwestern's 38 rebounds, which were three more than Wheaton's 35 in the game. Libby finished with seven assists.

For Wheaton (9-1), Tyler Peters had 24 points, playing much of the second half with four fouls while still leading the Thunder with 33 minutes of court time. Nathan Haynes added 15 rebounds for the visitors.

Now 7-2 on the season, Northwestern will take some time off for next week's final tests and a Christmas celebration before squaring off against another top 10 team in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at a holiday tournament hosted by St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. The Eagles will face Whitewater at 5 p.m. on Dec. 29 before playing either St. Norbert or Marian University the next day, Dec. 30.