ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. --- Junior
Timothy Wendel tied Crown Men's Basketball's NCAA-era single-game scoring mark on Wednesday, with 40 points in the game as Wendel led the Storm over the Northwestern Eagles. The Eagles were the team to beat in the UMAC after they started 2-0 in UMAC play with wins over Bethany Lutheran and North Central. Crown didn't let Northwestern leave town with an unblemished conference record, and the Storm improved to 2-0 in UMAC play.
In addition to his 40 points, Wendel also led the team in most other categories, with 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. Wendel shot 13 of 21 from the field and made four of his seven three-point attempts. Additionally, Wendel is now averaging 32 points per game in UMAC action.
"Overall, great team effort. Good contributions off the bench, especially from
Torry Ledin and
D'Andre Caster," Wendel said, quick to credit his teammates. "Good box outs all around. We have a lot of scoring on the team. Tonight I happened to go off, but I'm sure other games it'll be Josh [Volness], Keegan [Oyugi], or anyone else. Glad we got the win, we're undefeated in conference."
Not alone in his efforts against the former UMAC leader, senior
Josh Volness had 15 points in the matchup, and the aforementioned
Torry Ledin had 12 points off the bench. Ledin went 3/6 from behind the arc and Sophomore
Christian Moore added nine points and had five offensive rebounds.
The Storm got off to a ferocious start, leading by 15 at halftime and leading by as much as 26 before the Eagles came back attempting to get back into the game. However, it was too little too late for the Eagles as Crown won the game by 14.
Crown shot 49.3% from the field and 36.0% from three-point range. Northwestern shot 47.2% from the field and 26.3% from three. The Storm had 22 points off of turnovers and 22 second-chance points in the game. Crown heads to North Central to finish out the first semester, facing the Rams at 4:45 pm as they attempt to improve to 3-0 in UMAC play.
