The Northwestern College men’s basketball team dropped a heart-breaker in the final seconds to Morningside, losing 79-77 in a conference match-up played tonight in Sioux City.
The Raiders are now 2-2 in the conference, 4-2 overall; Morningside earns its fourth straight win, improving to 2-1 in the GPAC, 6-1.
Down by two (77-75) and coming out of its own timeout, Northwestern worked the ball to Craig Sterk, who scored on a jumper and tied the score at 77 with six seconds left. Morningside, however, had the final answer as sophomore guard Will Pottebaum score on a fadeaway jumper from the corner that first hit rim, bounced up and settled into the net as time expired.
The tension-filled, 40-minute thriller between the two teams predicted to finish 1-2 in the GPAC preseason poll featured 10 lead changes and six ties. The largest lead for either team was 10 by Northwestern in the second half.
Jay Small poured in game-high 22 points to go with five rebounds; Small was one of two Raiders, along with Keegan Van Egdom, to knock down four three-point attempts. Sixth-man of the year candidate Craig Sterk came off the bench to score 15 points and grab seven boards. Van Egdom scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half while Trent Hilbrands (13) and Alex Van Kalsbeek (10) gave Head Coach Kris Korver five players in double figures.
Early on, it was all Morningside as the Mustangs opened the game by scoring the first seven points but to the Raiders credit, they came back with a 15-7 surge to take their first lead following the second of two free throws by Small. From there, the teams traded punches with neither able to go on any sort of substantial run over the final 14-plus minutes of the first half. Morningside held a two-point, 41-39 lead, at intermission.
Northwestern went ahead on a jumper by Small (47-46) early in the second frame and led for all but the final 2:10. Leading by two (59-57), Korver’s squad outscored Morningside 12-4, using three-pointers by Hilbrands and Van Egdom, to push its lead to 10, 71-61, with seven minutes left. There was still fight left in the defending GPAC champions, however, as they came back with a 16-4 run to take the lead, 77-75, setting up the final moments.
The Raiders shot 53% from the floor, 46% (12/26) from the three-point line, and made all three free throw attempts. Northwestern was outrebounded 33-27 and committed 16 turnovers compared to 12 by the Mustangs.
Pottebaum led Morningside with 18 points, followed by Trey Brown with 14.
