One game in, one goal down.

The Northern State men’s basketball team accomplished something Monday night that they were unable to do all last season. The Wolves defeated Chadron State 79-76 in a non-conference contest at Wachs Arena.

NSU lost all six of its non-conference contests a year ago.

“It was a good feeling,” said Northern’s Joshua Book. “We knew the whole time, 0-6 in non-conference last year, so it was a big goal of ours.”

While the Wolves were far from perfect, they were able to win a game that last year they would end up losing.

“We made plays to win,” said Northern coach Matt Wilber. “We lost those games last year.”

Wilber said at the end of the day, a win is better than a loss.

“We could be talking about things we need to work on after a loss,” Wilber said, “and we could be talking about things we need to work on after a win.”

The Wolves made multiple big shots down the stretch, but it was a five-point possession early in the second half that gave the hosts a lead they never lost.

After the Eagles had taken a 50-48 lead, Northern made two extra passes on a play that resulted in a basket for Tobi Obiora, who got fouled. While Obiora missed the free throw, Dane Danielson grabbed the offensive rebound and spotted Book who hit an open 3-pointer to give the Wolves a 53-30 advantage.

“We go down and things aren’t going our way. Make the big play. Next man up. Dane got that rebound. That’s all him,” Book said. “A freshman coming in, making a big play like that. … It’s not a big play in the grand scheme of things, but if you look at it, that’s one of the big momentum swings in the game. That’s how we win the game, plays like that.”

That unselfish play is a character of this year’s team, according to Obiora.

“We’re all about the team. We’re not about ourselves,” Obiora said. “We want the team to win.”

The game was still in doubt when the Brook brothers, Joshua and Nic, each made key shots to keep the Wolves in front. Joshua nailed a crucial 3-pointer early in the shot clock with 1:34 left to push Northern’s lead to 75-68.

“We had a good drive from Avery (Christensen) and he kicked it out to me and I was wide open,” Joshua Book said. “I know the whole team has all the confidence in the world in me to make that. That’s how I have the confidence to make that tough shot.”

Then leading by three points, Nic Book nailed a baseline jumper with the shot clock about to expire with less than 25 seconds remaining.

It was that team effort that propelled the Wolves to their season-opening victory.

“That’s how we want to play, too. We have a really deep roster this year. Everyone can make plays. Everyone can step up when their number’s called,” Joshua Book said. “That’s going to be our identity a lot of this year. We’re deep and we have guys that can go.”

Northern received major contributions from a variety of freshmen in the contest.

“Avery and Dane were super confident, so was Mason (Witt),” Obiora said. “They’re aggressive to the rim. They’re aggressive taking their shots. They need to keep doing that.”

The contest was unique in that Chadron applied constant ball pressure that resulted in 16 Northern turnovers. Wilber noted the Wolves are probably only going to face that kind of defense twice all season.

“We don’t play that way, so we have to put it in in a practice and try to practice it and simulate it,” Wilber said. “We’re going to see the same thing at Southeastern Oklahoma, and then we’re not going to see a press the rest of the year. There won’t be one team in the league that presses.”

Wilber said that Chadron was a challenge to prepare for because the Eagles basically have an entire new roster from last season.

“They had two guys that played for Chadron last year. Two,” Wilber said. “The rest of them are all brand new, so our scouting report is clips of 10 different schools with those guys playing in that, so we had no idea and it showed.”

Still, the Wolves found a way to the finish line and pulled out the win.

“While we’re not going to sit here and pat ourselves on the back on a single-digit win, we are going to say, hey, good job,” Wilber said. “The biggest thing is our team stuck together in a really high way. We were tough and together all the way through.”

Nic Book led four players in double figures with 16 points, followed by Christensen with 15, Joshua Book with 13, and Obiora with 12.

The Wolves head to Oklahoma this weekend for games against Southeast Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene.

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

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2026-27/chadron-state/boxscore/14809