Men's Basketball Opens Season With 69-58 Win Over Illinois-Springfield

The Northwood University men's basketball team opened its 2012-13 season with a 69-58 win over Illinois-Springfield Friday night (November 9).

The game was a part of the Coca-Cola GLIAC/GLVC Challenge, which is being hosted by Missouri-St. Louis.

Northwood got off to a slow start early, missing their first eight shots from the floor.  The Prairie Stars took advantage of Northwood's early shooting problems, opening up a 13-4 lead with 12:30 remaining in the half.  But NU started to get their offense going the rest of the way, out-scoring Illinois-Springfield 24-11 the rest of the way to take a 28-24 lead to the locker room.

The second half saw Northwood get off to a much better start – the Timberwolves extended their lead to 39-29 with 14:00 remaining.  NU's lead would grow to as many as 15 in the second half.  Illinois-Springfield got no closer than seven the rest of the way. 

For the game, Northwood shot 40.0 percent from the floor (20-50) while holding the Prairie Stars to 34.4 percent (21-61).  The free throw line proved to be key in the contest, as Northwood out-scored Illinois-Springfield 23-11 at the stripe.

Northwood was led by Will Bowles (East Detroit, Mich./South Lake), who came off the bench to finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Fourteen of Bowles' 16 points came in the second half.  Booker Stoudmire (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) added 14 points, while Andrew VanDierenDonck (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt) added 13.  Freshman Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind.) came off the bench to finish with nine points and six rebounds.

The Timberwolves will take on Missouri-St. Louis Saturday afternoon (November 10).  Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.