Orange City, Iowa — The Northwestern College men’s basketball team will host Mount Marty with the GPAC postseason championship on the line Tuesday night at the Bultman Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm.
Northwestern, ranked 23rd in the latest NAIA coaches poll, has won 12 straight games and brings a 22-5 overall record into Tuesday’s championship contest. Mount Marty, the No.8 seed in the conference tournament, is 11-16 overall.
Tuesday’s game will be the third of the season between the teams with Northwestern winning the previous two by fairly close margins. On Jan.6 in Yankton, S.D., Northwestern pulled away late to defeat the Lancers 69-56. The Raiders had a substantial advantage on the boards (50-24), shot better from the field (42% – 35%) and were led by Craig Sterk with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Jailen Billings led Mount Marty with 14 points.
Northwestern downed the Lancers 78-71 in a close game played Feb. 6 at the Bultman Center, which was the final game of the regular season for the Lancers. A 12-2 Raider run put Northwestern in front for good halfway into the second half. Trent Hilbrands led head coach Kris Korver’s squad with 20 points, going 4-of-5 from the arc, and Alex Van Kalsbeek scored 18. Tyrell Harper, a transfer at the semester for the Lancers, scored 20 points and Luke Ronsiek added 15, all scored from beyond the arc.
This will be the eighth championship game appearance for Northwestern, most among all GPAC teams, and the Raiders have won it five times, also best among all GPAC teams. They are 3-1 in championship games played at the Bultman Center. This will be the Lancers first appearance in the GPAC title game.
This is the 27th season that the Northwestern men’s basketball program has won 20 or more games (dating back to the 1st season in 1960-61 as a four-year college) and 15th under head coach Kris Korver. The Raiders have won 20+ games in back-to-back seasons.
The NAIA has scheduled the men’s basketball selection show for 7pm (CST) on Thursday, March 4. The opening round of the national tournament will be held on March 12-13 and the NAIA has declared eight different opening round sites. The selection show will unveil pairings and location assignments. The winner of Tuesday’s championship game earns the GPAC’s second auto bid into the field of 48 teams.
