Orange City, Iowa — An 11-0, second half run propelled (RV) Northwestern to an 88-79 home win over No.21 University of Jamestown in a showdown between ranked teams.
The Raiders push their win streak to nine games as they improve to 14-5 in the GPAC, 19-5 overall, and are tied with the Jimmies for second place in the conference standings with one game left in the regular season.
The trio of Alex Van Kalsbeek, Trent Hilbrands and Isaac Heyer combined to score 73 of the Raiders 88 points in leading their team to a season sweep of the Jimmies.
Van Kalsbeek scored a game-high 27 points and pulled in 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Van Kalsbeek put forth another worthy case for the league’s top freshman award, making 10-of-14 field goal attempts while being guarded by Jamestown talented big-man Mason Walters, the reigning conference freshman of the year.
Heyer and Hilbrands provided a 1-2 scoring punch from the perimeter, scoring 23 points each and combined for all seven of the Raiders three-pointers. Heyer’s 23 points was a season-high as the senior matched his career-high with five three-pointers. Hilbrands second and final three-pointer of the game put him past Brandon Woudstra (1999-2003) for sixth place all-time in program history with 227 for his career.
Both teams held the lead in a first half that featured three lead changes and five ties. The first half ended with Jamestown in front 43-40.
Faced with its largest deficit of the game (58-50) early in the second half, a four-point play by Hilbrands sparked an 11-0 run to put Northwestern up for good, 61-58, with 10 minutes left to go. The Raiders held Jamestown scoreless for over four minutes, forcing four turnovers during that span, and a Heyer three-point play finished off the run.
Up by just one (64-63) moments later, Northwestern’s lead surged to 78-65 courtesy of a 14-2 run that eclipsed nearly five minutes of clock. Hilbrands scored eight points and Van Kalsbeek totaled four and the Raiders once again clamped down defensively, shutting down the dangerous Jamestown offense.
Northwestern shot 52% for the game, 60% in the second half, and made 7-of-14 three-point attempts. The Raiders won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Jimmies 36-31, led by Van Kalsbeek with his career-best 14. Jay Small contributed nine points and dished out seven assists.
Jamestown rode the hot-shooting hand of Marc Kjos, who knocked down six three-pointers en route to a 20-point effort. Walters tallied his 19th double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Will Cordes scored 17. The Jimmies shot 50% for the game, 46% in the final half.
