Two teams who are playing some of their best basketball of the season square off Wednesday when Northwestern hosts Briar Cliff in a conference match-up. Tip-off at the Bultman Center is scheduled for 8pm.
Briar Cliff has won six of its last seven games and is in seventh place in the current GPAC standings with an 8-6 mark, 11-8 overall. Northwestern has won three straight, five of its last six, and sits in sixth place in the conference standings at 8-5, 13-5 overall.
Last time Trent Hilbrands poured in a season-high 28 points in leading Northwestern to a 98-90 win against Briar Cliff in a GPAC road match-up played Dec.2 at the Newman Flanagan Center.
Hilbrands made good on 12-of-19 field attempts, including four three-pointers, and also dished out five assists. Alex Van Kalsbeek contributed 16 points and six rebounds, scoring 13 in the second half. Jay Small drained five three-pointers en route to a 15-point effort and became the newest member of the 1,000-point club, reaching the milestone with his second three-pointer of the game made at the 18:05 mark of the first half.
Trailing by five (79-74), Keegan Van Egdom knocked down a three-pointer and began an 11-0 run to put Northwestern in front for good, 85-79, with 6:50 left to go. The Raiders continued their scoring run and stretched their lead to 12 (94-82) following another Van Egdom three-pointer by the three-minute mark.
Quinten Vasa led Briar Cliff with 24 points and seven boards, followed by Ethan Freidel with 20.
The Chargers came away with a 90-85 home win against Midland last time out, pulling away late after the game was tied at 80. The win propelled Briar Cliff into seventh place in the conference standings with an 8-6 record, 11-8 overall. They are a team on the rise, winning six of their last seven, including victories over Doane (2x), Dakota State, Mount Marty and Hastings. Briar Cliff’s lone loss was to GPAC-leader Morningside, 89-73, on Jan.13.
Svagera is in his fourth season as the head of the Chargers program and spent six years prior as the top assistant at BCU. He returns three starters and 11 players from 2019-20 team that went 7-13 in the GPAC, 16-14 overall. They were picked eighth in the preseason poll.
Late-game heroics by freshman Alex Van Kalsbeek led Northwestern to its third straight win, a 79-77 road victory over Doane, in a conference game played last weekend. Van Kalsbeek scored off a putback, was fouled and converted the and-one, to give his team the lead with two secons left. Trent Hilbrands then stole the inbounds pass to ice it for head coach Kris Korver’s squad. With the win, Northwestern improved to 8-5 in the conference, 13-5 overall, and are just 1/2 game in back of Jamestown for fifth place.
