Northwestern led the LumberJacks 40-23 at halftime and never looked back as the Eagles made 16 of 29 attempts in the second half to finish at a 52.5 percent rate for the game. Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) led all players with 21 points on 9-12 shooting while Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) added 14 points in a game that saw every player in a purple and gold uniform play. Freshman reserve Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy)grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in just 17 minutes of action on the court and Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) posted four assists and three steals to go with his nine points. Carnell Sheppard led Northland (2-21, 1-12 UMAC) with 20 points.

Westberg sparked a 13-0 run midway through the first half with a three-pointer, allowing the Eagles to turn a one-point deficit into a 23-11 advantage over Northland. Following the 17-point margin at the halfway point, the Eagles second and third lines boosted the lead to as much as 30 before 29 points separated the two teams at the final buzzer. The NWC bench outscored that of its opponent 27-2. 13 LumberJack turnovers led to 24 points for the visitors on the scoreboard.

The UMAC men's basketball trophy is Northwestern's 24th since the conference's inception in 1972 and the 20th outright. In 13 seasons at the team's helm, head coach Tim Grosz has led the Eagles to 10 league championships. With the exception of one year, Grosz's teams have recorded 17 or more victories in each of those campaigns, including trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2011 and 2012.

NWC will wrap up its regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Eagles play another game on the banks of Lake Superior, this time at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. If the Saints beat North Central University (Minn.) on Saturday night (St. Scholastica led 44-33 at halftime), they'll enter Saturday's game against Northwestern with an outside shot at grabbing one of the three remaining berths in Wednesday's UMAC Tournament semifinal. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.