First Victory with Coach Lundeen at the Helm

Bemidji, MN – With a new Head Coach at the helm of the program, the Wolfpack were looking to get a win as early into the season as they could. It didn't take them long, just two games into the regular season, and the Oak Hills Men's Basketball team came away with the victory on Tuesday night.

After a tough battle of a first half, the Wolfpack went into the locker room up by only 5 points. The first half was a back and forth game for the two teams, and the lead never got higher than seven points.

With the Northland Pioneers shooting over 41% percent from the field and the Wolfpack only shooting 34%, the first half margin looked to have been decided at the free throw line. The Pioneers went 0-4 from the line during the first half whereas Oak Hills went an incredible 8-8.

Oak Hills was led during the first half by freshman, Noah Larson (Park Rapids, MN) who ended the half with a game high 14 points and went 6-6 from the free throw line. The Wolfpack were also helped by freshman, Ben Chavez Rodriguez (Woodbury, MN) who scored 9 during the first half of play.

The second half went very similar to the first, with each team trading baskets and the score staying close. Northland got their first lead of the second half with 13 minutes left to play after a foul from the Wolfpack gave the Pioneers a pair of free throws that were made and put the score at 41-42.

Oak Hills would get the lead back with a jumper from Senior, Deacon Bock (Blaine, MN) just a few seconds later, and the teams would trade buckets back and forth until a layup from Senior Alexander Gonzalez (Miami, FL) with 10 minutes left, would give the Wolfpack the lead that they would keep for the remainder of the game.

The Pioneers would fight to keep it close, but Oak Hills would not let them within 3 points and was able to push their lead out to 7 with the help of some clutch free throws during the final 3 minutes. With free throws being made from many of the Wolfpack players, the victory was hard fought for and won, with a final score of 69-62.

Oak Hill's team was led in points by Larson, who ended the game with 26 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman Caleb Smoot (McDonough, GA) added 14 points of his own and contributed 4 rebounds and 3 steals as well. Gonzalez finished the game with 11 points, 3 steals, and 3 assists. The Wolfpack were led in rebounds by Junior Captain, Bryson Keepers (Sheldon, WI) who pulled down a team high, 9 rebounds in the contest.

Wolfpack Basketball will be back in action on Saturday, November 9^th when they will take on NCCAA Region opponent, the Faith Baptist Bible College Eagles. This game is being hosted at Free Lutheran Bible College in Plymouth, MN.

Photo credited to Isabelle Allex