November 4 – Arrinten Page posted a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds in his program debut, and Nick Martinelli scored 17 points to lift host Northwestern to a season-opening 70-47 victory against Mercyhurst on Monday night in Evanston, Ill.<\/p>\n
K.J. Windham added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats, who finished plus-17 on the glass. Jake Lemelman paced the Lakers with 14 points.<\/p>\n
Northwestern shot 36.5% from the field, compared with 30% for Mercyhurst, but found its touch in spurts to pull away from the Lakers, who are in their second season in NCAA Division I.<\/p>\n
While the Wildcats connected on just 26.3% of their 3-point attempts, Windham drilled two treys in a 37-second span as part of a 10-0 run early in the second half.<\/p>\n
Windham blocked a 3-pointer from the Lakers’ Kaden Fuhrmann between his makes. Mercyhurst shot only 5.6% (1-for-18) from long range and forced the Wildcats into 12 turnovers while committing 11.<\/p>\n
Bernie Blunt scored eight points for the Lakers, and Mykolas Ivanauskas had eight rebounds.<\/p>\n
Page, a Cincinnati transfer, recorded career highs in points and rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. He went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n
Martinelli was the lone player in double figures in the first half, scoring 15 points to spark the Wildcats to a 36-25 lead at the break. His effort included 3-for-5 shooting from the field and an 8-for-8 showing from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n
Northwestern closed the half on a 9-2 run, with Windham (five points) and Martinelli (four) sharing the hot hand. Martinelli closed the run with a jumper in the paint just ahead of the buzzer as the Wildcats overcame seven first-half turnovers to take a double-digit advantage into the locker room.<\/p>\n
Lemelman led the Lakers with eight points in the first 20 minutes, in which the visitors went just 1-for-9 from long range.<\/p>\n
–Field Level Media<\/p>\n
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