Orange City, Iowa — Balanced scoring keys a Northwestern win over (RV) Dordt, 89-82, in a men’s basketball match-up played tonight between the two rivals at the Bultman Center. The Red Raiders avenge their earlier loss to the Defenders, 86-68, on Nov. 20 in Sioux Center.
Northwestern wins its second straight, three of its last four, to improve to 9-6 in the GPAC, 17-8 overall. The Red Raiders are currently alone in third place in the GPAC standings with five games left. Dordt slips to 9-7 in the conference, 18-8 overall.
All five starters scored in double figures for Head Coach Kris Korver’s squad, led by both Trent Hilbrands and Isaac Heyer with 18 points each. Hilbrands became the 46th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone with a basket at the mid-point of the second half. The junior guard now has 1,007 points for his career. Craig Sterk contributed 16 points, followed by Jay Small with 14 and Keegan Van Egdom with 13. A sixth NWC player, Grant Rohrer, totaled eight points and five rebounds.
Four lead changes and a couple of ties highlighted the first five minutes of action as both teams shot well, especially from the perimeter. Dordt then went on the first substantial run of the game, a 17-3 surge, to put the visitors up 31-18 following a basket from Garrett Franken with 11:20 left. A jumper by Ben Gesink increased the Dordt lead to 15 and extended the run to 21-5 (35-20) at the 8:52 mark.
Northwestern, however, stormed back with a 25-5 run of its own, beginning with a three-pointer from Hilbrands and ending with a long-range shot by Small to give their team a 45-40 advantage just before halftime. Gesink knocked down a triple to put the Northwestern lead at 45-43 by halftime.
Much like the beginning moments of the game, the second half featured the teams trading baskets and six lead changes. Down one (63-62), Northwestern surged ahead for good with a basket by Hilbrands and a three-pointer from Small. More back and forth action between the two rivals ensued and, with the Red Raiders clinging to a one-point advantage (78-77), Heyer knocked down a three-pointer and Hilbrands converted three straight free throws to spark a decisive 8-2 run during the final minutes.
Northwestern shot 52% for the game, 52% (15/29) from the three-point line; Dordt shot 43% for the game, 37% (13/35) from the arc. The Red Raiders held a slight 38-37 edge on the glass, led by Hilbrands, Heyer, Van Egdom, Rohrer and Dalton Moser with five boards.
Dordt was led by Gesink with 16, followed by Franken with 15 points; Cade Bleeker (14) and Marcus Winterfeld (10) were also in double figures.
