Orange City, Iowa — Trent Hilbrands poured in 20 points in leading Northwestern to a 78-71 home win over Mount Marty this afternoon in GPAC play at the Bultman Center. Northwestern extends its win streak to eight games and improves to 13-5 in the GPAC, 18-5 overall, with two games left in the regular season.
Down by one at halftime, Northwestern outscored the Lancers by eight over the final 20 minutes to earn the hard fought win.
Consecutive baskets by Elijah Pappas and Chad Moran gave Mount Marty its largest lead, 45-41, with just five minutes gone by in the second half. A three-pointer from Matt Onken triggered a 12-2 Northwestern run, giving the hosts the lead for good, 53-47, at the 12-minute mark. Isaac Heyer also drained a three-pointer during the surge and both Hilbrands and Alex Van Kalsbeek converted two free throws.
A three-pointer from Hilbrands gave Northwestern its largest lead, 65-55, with six minutes left but Mount Marty rallied, using full court pressure to force turnovers and get easy baskets, to within two, 73-71, with under a minute left. Jay Small, beating the Lancers full court pressure, scored an easy lay-up for a four-point lead and the senior converted 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds to hold off the Lancers rally.
Northwestern shot 60% from the field, 56% (10/18) from the three-point line, led by Hilbrands with 20 points, his eighth 20+-point game of the season. Van Kalsbeek converted on all seven of his field goal attempts en route to an 18-point effort, while Jay Small contributed 17 points, four rebounds and three assists. Northwestern outrebounded the Lancers 37-27, led by Craig Sterk with 10.
Mount Marty was led by newcomer Tyrell Harper who matched Hilbrands for game-high honors with 20 points to go with 12 rebounds. Luke Ronsiek scored all 15 of his points from beyond the arc and Jailen Billings came away with 11 points. Mount Marty shot 43% from the field but forced Northwestern into 19 turnovers, matching the Raiders second highest total of the season.
