ORANGE CITY, Iowa – A 16-0 first half run allowed the Northwestern College men’s basketball team (12-5, 4-3 GPAC) to pick up their third straight Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) victory behind a double-double performance from Matt Onken.
The post play guided the Raiders to victory tonight as Northwestern scored 34 of their 69 points in the paint, compared to only 22 paint points by Dakota Wesleyan.
Onken (R-So., Marshall, Minn./Marshall) made his presence felt on the boards in the first half, picking up nine of his 15 rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action. On the night, he recorded 14 points – picking up more rebounds than points scored.
Dakota Wesleyan picked up the first five points of the contest, and built a 10-4 lead early but that would be the only time the Tigers would hold a lead in the contest. With 11:42 remaining in the half, the game-high leading scorer Mason Larson of Dakota Wesleyan picked up his second foul, putting him on the bench. That would spur the Raiders to go on a 16-0 run over six and a half minutes, that same stretch the Tigers would go ice cold going 0-10 from the floor. The Raiders would take the lead at 12-10 with 10:33 to go, in the middle of the run, and would not ever give that lead up. Northwestern would take 30-21 lead into the locker room.
Alex Van Kalsbeek (So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) tallied 10 first half points to lead the Raiders, while Onken picked up eight points.
Van Kalsbeek would start the second half with a bang, throwing down a dunk to give the Raiders their largest lead of the contest at 13 (34-21). Dakota Wesleyan did their best to fight their way back into the game, after that cold streak in the first half but never took back the lead. The Tigers cut the lead down to two at 49-47 with 8:10 to play, but the Raiders would trade baskets with the Tigers and eventually increased their lead back up to seven with four minutes to play. With just over a minute remaining, the Raiders increased their lead back to double digits from the charity strike, prompting the 11-point win at 69-58.
On the night, three Raiders scored in double figures. Van Kalsbeek paced the Raiders with 23 points (shooting 5-for-6 from the free throw line), Onken had 14, and Trent Hilbrands (Sr., Remsen, Iowa/Le Mars Community) tallied 13 (shooting 4-for-4 from the free throw line). Jesse Van Wyk (Sr., Sully, Iowa/Lynnville-Sully) dished out the ball well, tallying five assists on the night.
Up Next: Northwestern prepares for a tough two day stretch with back-to-back games this upcoming weekend. On Friday, January 7 the No. 12-ranked Jimmies of Jamestown (15-2, 5-2 GPAC) comes to town, followed by a contest against the Hastings Broncos (6-10, 1-5 GPAC) on Saturday, January 8.
