Spartans Win Tight Battle Against Northwestern St. Paul
Nov 17, 2017
ST. PAUL, Minn. – After jumping out to a big lead early, the University of Dubuque men’s basketball team held on to win 82-78 over Northwestern St. Paul and move to 2-0 on the season.
The Spartans raced out to a quick 12-4 lead in the opening minutes of the game behind four, three pointers from three different players, forcing Northwestern St. Paul to call an early timeout. After hitting two of the first four, three pointers for the Spartans, TJ Lake stayed hot, making two more just a few minutes later to give him four before the game was five minutes old and the Spartans a 20-5 lead.
UD grabbed their largest lead of the game when Henry Thompson connected on a three pointer to put the Spartans up 32-16 with 7:51 remaining in the first half. After Northwestern St. Paul cut the UD to as few as three points late in the first half, Zach Randolph hit a three with a minute before halftime to give the Spartans a seven point lead heading into the break.
Northwestern St. Paul grabbed the lead twice early in the second half, both times by one point. The game stayed within three points for the next several minutes before it looked like the Spartans would pull away as they built a 10 point lead with six minutes remaining. Northwestern St. Paul inched their way back into the game and even cut it to a single point deficit at 77-76 but the Spartans iced away the game on the free throw line to win 82-78.
TJ Lake started out on fire, hitting his first four, three pointers before finishing with a team high 21 points on 7-14 shooting from the field. Lake also hauled in six rebounds which was tied for the team high with Davon Beckert. After his 23 point performance on Wednesday night, Jamaree Atwater had 17 points and 3 assists in 31 minutes of action. Deonte Newsome came off the bench to hit several timely baskets and score 11 points on just five shots.
The Spartans have a short turnaround, as they face North Central on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota.
