The site of so many Northern State men’s basketball victories was the scene of another one Monday night.

The Wolves used a key 14-point surge down the stretch to defeat Dickinson State 78-64 on Retro Night at the Aberdeen Civic Arena, the former home of NSU basketball.

“Neat night with the Civic Arena,” said Wolves coach Saul Phillips. “The guys were really appreciative of the crowd.”

Even new players to the Northern roster understood the impact the Civic Arena has on the community. Junior transfer guard James Glenn was one of them.

“Man, it was great. We got a lot of great dudes around us. The support was awesome,” said Glenn. “It was really fun to come play in this older gym. The support was just incredible, it was awesome.”

The Wolves were eager to get on the court with an almost entirely new squad, which caused some problems early on in the game.

“We were impatient. We looked like a team that was just so excited to get out in front of people,” said Phillips. “I think we played a little hurried at times offensively. … We gotta be more patient and reverse the ball more offensively. We tried to do too much individual off the bounce, and that is something we don’t do in practice, but things get a little sped up and kids get a little excited. The tape will be really valuable, because that is not the way we’re going to play successfully.”

After the Wolves jumped out to an 18-11 lead with 12:56 to go in the first half, the game was scoreless for almost four minutes before Dickinson State made a layup. Northern followed it up with a free throw from Tobi Obiora, who went on to score the next six points for the Wolves.

Northern closed out the half up 36-28, shooting 45.5% from the field, 3-for-5 from the 3-point line, and collecting five steals, three of which came from Glenn. He noted that he’s always trying to make an extra play.

“When we can man. I want to play fast, and I think our team wants to, too,” Glenn said. “If we have those opportunities, we’re absolutely going to capitalize, we’re going to try our best.”

The Wolves went by up a dozen points to start the second half, but Dickinson State clawed back into the game going on a 10-point run in the span of about two minutes to close the gap down to two points.

Northern extended the lead to 46-40 before eight unanswered points gave Dickinson its first lead since the beginning of the game, which prompted a timeout from Phillips.

“I pointed out to them they got loose in transition a little bit after some bad passes, so that’s an offensive problem for us. We completely lost a guy on the chase and then fouled in the corner. … I’d say temporary insanity,” Phillips said. “I like the fact when they took a little bit of a lead in the second half, that we turned around right there and said ‘No, this isn’t going to happen this way,’ and we did so without our starting point guard on the floor.”

Phillips noted the depth the Wolves possess this season as eight players spent 15 minutes or more on the court, with Devon Brooke logging eight minutes as well.

“I feel really good with depth. I feel like between James, and when Marcus (Burks) plays the way he can play, and Kwat’s (Abdelkarim) game. I feel good about our one through our three,” Phillips said. “We’re definitely a work in progress, but the pieces are there and I’m excited where this can go.”

The Wolves not only feature depth, they also have solid chemistry, according to Glenn.

“We got all the right dudes in the locker room. It’s so much better than I imagined with half a new team, including myself,” said Glenn. “I feel like everyone’s bought in and making it easy.”

The Wolves went on a 17-3 run after Dickinson took the lead to help secure the victory. Northern put an exclamation on the win with a fastbreak dunk from Glenn after his fifth steal of the night, finishing his Northern debut with 20 points.

“Again, it goes back to being able to gel in the locker room, and having our team just trust each other,” said Glenn. “They’re putting me in the right spots, and the coaches are doing the same.”

Although Phillips was hoping to get more players in the game, he was happy for the challenge his squad faced in its first contest of the season.

“I would have loved to have gotten this game up to 25, 30 and gotten a few more people through there, but at the same time, I’m grateful that we had to learn how to collect ourselves,” said Phillips. “We got a little adversity going, and they had a resounding reaction to that. When it could have been ‘Oh what’s going on’ and get tight, we played our best basketball, and that’s a good sign.”

The Wolves won’t compete again until Friday, Nov. 8, when they travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to take on Missouri Western State.

To see a complete box score of the contest, click in the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2024-25/dickinson-state-ex-/boxscore/13754