ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The (RV) Northwestern College men’s basketball team (21-10, 13-7 GPAC) fell to the Doane University Tigers (19-12, 11-9 GPAC) in the Quarterfinals of the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) conference tournament, despite a 19-point performance from Alex Van Kalsbeek.
An intense first half ended with Northwestern clinging to a one-point lead, after the Raiders led the entire 20 minutes. The Raiders started the game on a 5-0 run but the Tigers would stay within striking distance the entire half. Northwestern’s largest lead of the first half was seven points.
A technical foul on the Raider bench would spark a 6-0 run, allowing the Raiders to take their largest lead. Doane would respond with a 6-0 spurt of their own to cut the deficit back to one at 28-27 with 2:40 on the clock. The two teams would trade layups in the final two and a half minutes of the half, as Northwestern took the 30-29 lead into the locker room.
Doane came out with a passion in the second half, though it was Northwestern with a 7-3 spurt to start the half. A 9-0 run would give Doane their first lead of the contest (41-36) with 15 minutes left to play. In a flip from the first half, it was Doane would lead the rest of the second half but never leading by more than seven points. Northwestern continued to make pushes the rest of the half, but could never get over the hump as the Tigers always had an answer.
With under 30 seconds left on the clock, Conner Geddes (Fr., Sioux Falls, S.D./Harrisburg) would knock down a massive three to cut into Doane’s five-point advantage, making it 63-61 with 27 ticks on the clock. The Raiders would foul, sending Trey Winkler to the free throw line, who would hit one-of-two to make it a three-point game.
Head Coach Kris Korver would take a time out with eight seconds on the clock, drawing up a play that would result in a top-of-the-key 3-pointer. The shot would not drop, but a fight for the rebound would land out of bounds, giving the Raiders a final shot with less than a second on the clock. However, the final shot was not gotten off in time as Doane would prevail 64-61.
Van Kalsbeek (So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) had 19 points to lead the Raiders, along with seven assists and four rebounds. Matt Onken (R-So., Marshall, Mo./Marshall) had a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with a nine-point performance. Geddes notched 14 points and seven rebounds in the effort.
Northwestern will await their fate for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) men’s basketball selection show on Thursday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. The selection show can be watched on the NAIA’s Facebook page.
