It started with a perfectly executed play and snowballed into an offensive onslaught for Northern State Saturday evening at Wachs Arena.

James Glenn nailed a 3-pointer to start a second-half surge when the Wolves scored on nine of their first 10 possessions on the way to a 83-69 men’s college basketball win over Minnesota State, Moorhead. The win moved NSU to 10-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings.

“James came out, we had a great elevator action to start the half for him,” said Northern’s Joshua Book. “He hit that and the floodgates kind of opened from there.”

By the time the Wolves were done with their opening barrage, they owned a 56-33 lead and the Dragons never recovered.

While Northern was hitting from every angle for a while, the defense also received plenty of credit following the victory.

“It really is a big momentum boost coming out of the half like that,” Glenn said, “especially when you pair a good bucket like that with some stops. The stops were really the key.”

The defensive effort was the first thing Northern coach Matt Wilber wanted to talk about following the game.

“I give our guys a ton of credit,” Wilber said. “To hold Moorhead to 69 points, this is a really good offense with really talented players. … That’s a really good job by our defense to do that.”

Still, the offense had a memorable night shooting the ball.

“Simon Akena, Josh Book, and James Glenn go 23-for 29 from the field?” Wilber said. “And I’ll give our guys credit. This was one of our better executed games offensively.”

So well executed that Book made 9 of his 10 shots, all contested and some off balance.

“I just try to get to my spots and those are the shots that the team has confidence in me to take,” Book said. “When I can make them, it’s great.”

Book said it all came down to execution, and when one shot goes in, it inspires others to make shots.

“It’s definitely infectious. We ran our stuff. We executed well,” Book said. “That’s one thing that we’ve kind of put a big emphasis on is executing our sets and all that. We did that well.”

Glenn was an remarkable 7-for-7 from 3-point range. He said he doesn’t think about being in a zone or how many he has made in a row.

“You kind of try to take your confidence from the shots that the guys are getting for you. I try not to be all in on whether I make the first or second, and just have confidence in the work that I’ve put in up to this point and the abilities that God has given me,” Glenn said. “But once you hit the first one, two, and you’re feeling good, then it really helps the confidence.”

Book finished with 23 points and Glenn with 21. Akena, who shot 7-for-11, added 16 points, and Marshawn Smith contributed 10.

“It was a really well played game for our guys tonight on both ends,” Wilber said. “And I still think we have a ceiling that we can still reach, and I think we’re moving towards that.”

The Wolves have now won three games in a row and are 10-14 on the season. They will try to keep that streak going heading into the final four games of the regular season. NSU is tied with Jamestown atop the North Division.

“You look at the standings, you see the North is wide open for us to take,” Book said. “That’s the main goal right now. … Like Wilber always says, you can’t win five in a row if you don’t win one in a row. So it’s always just the next game.

The Wolves have three of their final four remaining games on the road, including at Bemidji on Thursday and at Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.

“If we’re going to do it we’re going to have to do it on the road and we’re going to have to do it at really tough spots, Wilber said. “We lost to Bemjidi and Duluth at home.”

Still, the Wolves are in prime position to control their own destiny as they battle for postseason position.

“The guys have put themselves in a position to play really meaningful games down the stretch in February,” Wilber said, “and I’m proud of them for that, like I am all the time.”

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

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2025-26/msu-moorhead/boxscore/14127