ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Sophomore Alex Van Kalsbeek etches his name into Raider men’s basketball history this evening, joining the Raider 1,000-point club with his seventh double-double of the season as the Northwestern College men’s basketball team (14-5, 6-3 GPAC) down the Hastings Broncos (6-13, 1-8 GPAC) inside the Bultman Center Saturday afternoon.
“Proud of their perseverance and what a great weekend of Raider basketball,” noted head coach Kris Korver. “We keep getting better and taking care of the basketball. I’m just very proud of them!”
Once again, it was Van Kalsbeek (So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) who stole the show as Hastings could find no answer for him. He dropped 30+ points for the fifth time in his career, scoring 31 points and collecting 10 rebounds. It marks back-to-back double-doubles for the big man. He also becomes the 49th Raider in men’s basketball program history to join the 1,000-point club, currently sitting at 1,026 points and good for 46th best in program history.
“(Van Kalsbeek) was a D-U-D-E again for us tonight!” noted Korver. “He’s a tough guy for opponents to guard and his game is expanding.”
Hastings came out firing, holding the lead for the first few minutes but the Raiders never let them get a lead bigger than three points. Freshman Conner Geddes (Sioux Falls, S.D./Harrisburg) got the scoring started for the Raiders, splashing a three in the first minute. The Broncos would tie the game at 15-15 with 13 minutes left in the half, but the Raiders would take complete momentum after that thanks to a 10-2 run over the next four minutes, creating an eight-point advantage at 25-17.
The Broncos would battle back to make it a 27-24 Raider lead with six minutes left to go in the first half before another spurt would give the Raiders another double-digit lead at 38-28 with under three minutes to go in the opening half. Northwestern would push that lead up to 14 before Hastings would go on a 5-0 lead to close out the half, as the Raiders would take a 44-35 lead into the locker room.
“Teams have really been trying to take Hilbrands out of the game,” commented Korver. “He’s done a great job of leading the team in other ways as other guys have stepped up to make shots.”
The second half saw the Raiders and Broncos trade buckets, as the Raiders maintained a lead anywhere from 7 to 11 points in the first five minutes of the second half. A Trent Hilbrands (Sr., Remsen, Iowa/Le Mars Community) layup with 6:11 to go in the contest would extend the Raider lead to 15, and less than two minutes later a pair of free throws from Van Kalsbeek would give the Raiders their largest lead of the game at 19, leading 75-56. Hastings would again end the half with a 4-0 run to cut into Northwestern’s 17-point lead, making the final score 81-68 as the Raiders prevailed by 13.
“It was a great weekend for us,” concluded Korver. “Our guys did a great job executing and competing and found a way to get it done.”
Three Raiders join Van Kalsbeek scoring double digit points for the Raiders this afternoon. Matt Onken (R-So., Marshall, Minn./Marshall) dropped 14 points, while grabbing nine rebounds. Geddes had 11 points and five assists, while Grant DeMeulenaere (Sr., Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) had 10 points and six rebounds to help lift Northwestern past the Broncos.
Up Next: Northwestern hits the road again on Wednesday, January 12 for a trip to Yankton, S.D. to take on the Lancers of Mount Marty University at 7:45 p.m. inside Laddie E. Cimpl Arena.
