BELLEVUE, Neb. – The Northwestern College men’s basketball team (4-0) was firing on all cylinders Saturday night, as they remain perfect on the season with an 100-56 victory over the Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.) Wolves (0-3) to wrap up the Bellevue Classic Saturday evening inside the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center on the campus of Bellevue University.
Alex Van Kalsbeek (So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) picked up his third double-double of the season, tallying 25 points and 11 rebounds on 11-for-16 shooting from the floor. Nearly half of the Northwestern points would be scored in the paint (42 points).
Northwestern controlled the game from the opening tip, immediately going on a 10-0 and never took the pressure off the Wolves the rest of the night. Noah Slagter (Sr., Willmar, Minn./Willmar) started the game hot, tallying the first eight Raider points of the game. The Raiders would continue to be relentless against Cardinal Stritch, taking a commanding 35-10 lead with under eight minutes to go in the first half.
By the time the Wolves hit the 20-point mark, the Raiders had more than doubled that with 46 points, to lead 46-20. Northwestern’s largest lead of the first half was 31 points as the squad would hit the locker room leading 57-26. Van Kalsbeek led all scorers with 16 points at the half, scoring as many points himself as the two leading scorers for Cardinal Stritch scored. Trent Hilbrands (Sr., Remsen, Iowa/Le Mars Community) followed close behind with 15 points in the first 20 minutes of action.
The second was more of the same as the Raiders kept up the intensity. The Raiders opened the second half red hot with a 30-7 run to open up what would be the largest lead of the contest at 53 points, as the Raiders would lead 87-34 with 11 minutes to play. The Raiders had a balanced scoring attack in the second half, as no Raider would eclipse double digits in the final 20 minutes of play.
On the night, five Raiders would tally double digit points. Slagter and Hillbrands both notched 15 points apiece, while Matt Onken (R-So., Marshall, Minn./Marshall) and Kade Fey (So., Edgerton, Minn./Southwest Minnesota Christian) both had 11 points. The Raider bench contributed 31 points in the win.
The Raiders completely dominated the rebounding category, going +20 on the Wolves (55-35), as the Northwestern defense held Cardinal Stritch to a mere 28.6% from the floor.
Up Next: Northwestern is set to host the Pizza Ranch Classic this upcoming Friday and Saturday, November 12-13 inside the Bultman Center. The men will welcome Dordt University, Viterbo University (Wis.), and Bellevue University (Neb.) to campus. The Raiders will kick off the event against Viterbo on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.
