St. Bonifacius, Minn. — Senior Austin VanDerHeyden had an early Christmas with his first win over the Northwestern Eagles in his collegiate career, scoring 27 points and pulling down ten rebounds for a double-double in the game. VanDerHeyden also led the team in assists, with six in the match. Crown had a huge first half, with a lead as much as +24 in the period. However, Northwestern made a strong comeback attempt in the second half, getting the lead all the way back to three points with 36 seconds left. Their work was to no avail as Crown was able to put the Eagles away with late made free throws from Christian Moore, Tim Wendel, and Trey Peace.

Sophomore Tim Wendel had an uncharacteristically cold night from the field, only making five of sixteen attempts. However, Wendel was able to find a way to score 14 points and added seven rebounds in the match. First-year Christian Moore also scored 14 points on 50% shooting.

Junior Josh Volness scored ten points, and shot 75% from behind the arc with three made threes; Volness also added three assists. D'Andre Caster had nine points in the game and went four of five from the field. Senior Trey Peace had three points, two rebounds, and two assists along with a strong defensive effort. Kole Jusczak had five rebounds and scored two points, as Crown only had seven players take the court. 

Crown shot 48% from the field compared to Northwestern's 36%, but Northwestern's 70% from the free throw line compared to Crown's 57% kept them in contention to win the game. Crown has another UMAC game before the break, with a matchup against North Central in Minneapolis on Saturday.