Northwestern College lost to No.1 overall seed College of Idaho 67-49 a first round match-up played today at the 2020 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The Red Raiders 2019-20 season comes to an end with a 20-12 record.
Trent Hilbrands scored a game-high 25 points, the lone Red Raider to score in double figures. Hilbrands made 9-of-21 field goal attempts, going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Poor shooting plagued Northwestern all game long against the Yotes, who came in as one of the top defensive teams in the NAIA. The Red Raiders were limited to 33% from the field working against the Yotes’ aggressive zone defense. Northwestern made just 5/21 three-point attempts (24%).
Northwestern fell behind 7-2 but trimmed the lead down to two (10-8) following a three-pointer by Keegan Van Egdom, a lay-up from Hilbrands and a free throw by Grant Rohrer. College of Idaho, however, outscored Head Coach Kris Korver’s squad 14-4 over the next six minutes and led by nine, 35-26, at the break.
A jumper from Hilbrands and a three-pointer by Craig Sterk put Northwestern within four in the opening minutes of the second half, 37-33. College of Idaho then scored the next seven points to extend its lead to double-digits, where it remained for the final 14 minutes.
Sterk (7 points), Jay Small (5pts) and Van Egdom (5pts) were the other top scorers for Northwestern. The Red Raiders were outrebounded 39-33 by College of Idaho; Van Egdom led the way with seven boards.
All-American guard Talon Pinckney led the Yotes with 17 points; four other players scored at least eight points for the balanced College of Idaho offense.
This marks the final game for the four Northwestern seniors; Christian Korver, Dalton Moser, Grant Rohrer and TIm Wager.
