After everything went right in the first five minutes for Northern State, about everything went wrong for the next 15 minutes and the Wolves never recovered Monday night.

In a rare 33-point swing, Northern went from up 14 points to down 19 points on the way to a 77-62 setback to Jamestown in non-conference men’s college basketball at Wachs Arena.

The Wolves scored on their first seven possessions of the game to build an 18-4 lead, only to go scoreless for more than nine minutes and eventually fall behind 42-23.

“We do well in transition. We got rebounds off the first miss right away, got it up the court and we hit shots,” said NSU’s Marcus Banks of the quick start. “That’s the best way to play basketball for any team. Those are open uncontested looks right at the rim. Inside and out, that’s good basketball.”

However, that turned around very quickly as soon the Jimmies found an offensive rhythm and Northern could not buy a basket.

“We stopped playing defense, we let up shots, lack of intensity and lack of focus,” Burks said. “That’s just been a theme all year, but we’re going to get it figured out.”

By the time the first half ended, the Wolves were staring at a 15-point halftime deficit.

Northern shot nearly 50 percent from 3-point range on the evening, but struggled scoring in the paint against Jamestown.

“We didn’t’ finish very well inside. We were trying to put it inside and started out the game doing that. And when we did get it inside our bigs didn’t finish very well today,” said NSU coach Saul Phillips. “They’ve been really good the past couple games, they just weren’t very good today.”

The Wolves never quit, eventually whittling the margin down to 10 points with 7:44 remaining on a 3-pointer from Braedon Vanbockern, and had possession to slice the margin to single digits. However, the Jimmies then went on a 12-2 surge to push the margin to 20 and ice the victory.

“Just complete complacency. It’s embarrassing how we showed up and how we finished the game out,” Burks said. “We showed a little resilience, but it’s not good enough. On the defensive end we have to show more.”

The Jimmies outrebounded Northern by a 38-29 margin, and hauled down 14 offensive rebounds in the contest.

“We just kept fighting. We kept getting those loose balls,” said Jamestown’s Spencer Barr. “We got 14 offensive rebounds. We just battled. I think that was the difference maker.”

Phillips knows he has good players, but his patience is getting tested as the Wolves have not been able to put everything together during games so far this season.

“I see it in every practice every day and I’m waiting for this group to develop a little more ‘dog’, to get a little bit tougher,” Phillips said, “and I’m losing patience, honestly.”

The Wolves showed what they were capable of in the opening portion of the game, but they also know that is not enough to secure wins.

“We’re a good basketball team. We showed it in the first few minutes of the game,” Burks said. “That’s the energy we have to bring throughout the whole game.”

The Jimmies had a stronger cheering section than most visiting foes do at Wachs Arena. That’s because Jamestown has two Aberdeen natives on the roster in Barr, a former Aberdeen Central all-stater, and Malek Wieker, a former Aberdeen Christian all-state player.

While Wieker has played numerous times at the facility competing in multiple state tournaments, Monday marked the first game for Barr at Wachs Arena.

Barr nailed a 3-point field in the opening half, right in front of that Jamestown cheering section. He said it felt good to see the shot go in.

“Especially after missing those first couple,” Barr said. “I wanted to hit at least one in my hometown, so it felt good to get that one.”

The Jimmies are joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference next season, and prepared for that transition with seven games against NSIC foes. Jamestown went 4-3 in those contests this year.

“I think getting these seven NSIC games, especially getting us ready for next year, has been huge,” Barr said, “and it will get us ready for the North Star Tournament, too.”

Burks and Vanbockern each finished with 16 points to lead Northern, and James Glenn added a dozen.

The Wolves, 1-9 on the season, host Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Minot State on Saturday afternoon.

“We need to get some wins,” Phillips said, “that’s all there is to it.”

To see a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2024-25/jamestown/boxscore/13758