Orange City, Iowa — The Northwestern College men’s basketball team will host the University of Jamestown for a mid-week GPAC match-up between ranked teams. Tip-off on Wednesday night, Feb. 10, is scheduled for 8pm.
Both teams are on impressive win streaks and are currently near the top of the conference standings and Wednesday’s outcome will effect postseason tournament seeding. Northwestern has won eight straight and is third in the conference standings with a 13-5 record, 18-5 overall. Jamestown has won six in a row and is in second place in the GPAC with a 14-4 record, one game in front of the Raiders. They are 18-5 overall.
Last Time vs Jamestown, five Northwestern players scored in double figures in leading the Raiders to a 91-78 road win against the University of Jamestown in a conference game played on Nov. 18 in Jamestown, N.D.
Alex Van Kalsbeek led Northwestern with 23 points, followed by Isaac Heyer with a season-high 21, including five three-pointers. Jay Small scored a 17, also a season-high, and both Trent Hilbrands and Craig Sterk contributed 11 points each.
Down 6-4, Northwestern went ahead for good with a 17-5 run, knocking down four three-pointers and getting five points from Van Kalsbeek. The Raiders doubled up the hosts (28-14) after a three-pointer by Sterk at the 12-minute mark and led 55-32 at the half.
Northwestern extended its lead to nearly 30 (67-38) in the early moments of the second half and led by 20+ points for most the final 20 minutes.
The Raiders shot 50% from the field, 42% from the arc, making a season-high 13 three-pointers. Northwestern dished out 26 assists and committed only six turnovers.
Jamestown was led by sophomore big man Mason Walters with 24 points and nine boards and Will Cordes scored 18 points coming off the bench.
Jamestown has won its last six games to climb up to second place in the current GPAC standings with a 14-4 record and two games left in the regular season. They are 18-5 overall and moved up to 21st in the NAIA Coaches’ poll. The Jimmies edged Briar Cliff 72-71 last week in Sioux City and then returned home for a blowout, 100-74 win against Midland.
Neville is in his sixth year as the head of the Jamestown men’s basketball program and returns two starters and nine players from a 2019-20 team that finished seventh in the GPAC at 9-11, 18-13 overall. Neville, a former player at Grand View, led the Jimmies to the national tournament in 2019 and won the GPAC postseason title that season.
