Craig Sterk registered his seventh, career double-double in leading Northwestern to a rugged 69-56 road win over Mount Marty in conference action played Wednesday night in Yankton, S.D.
Northwestern has won two of its last three games and improved to 6-5 in the GPAC, 11-5 overall; the Lancers fall to 4-7 in the conference, 7-9 overall.
Playing a season-high 31 minutes, Sterk turned in one of his best games with 21 points and matched his career-best with 12 rebounds. The junior forward netted 14 of his points in the second half and made 8-of-15 field goal attempts.
Trent Hilbrands contributed 19 points, 13 in the second half, including a trio of three-pointers that helped the Raiders put away the Lancers late. Noah Slagter provided the spark off the bench with a season-high 10 points and three rebounds.
Northwestern led by seven (30-23) at the break but the Lancers began the second half with an 11-3 run to take their only lead, 34-33, with 17 minutes left to play. The Raiders scored the next seven points, four by Sterk, and a Hilbrands three-pointer extended the lead to eight (48-40) with 10:49 left.
Mount Marty made one last push, getting within four (54-50), only to have Northwestern outscore the hosts 15-6 over the final six minutes to get the win.
Head Coach Kris Korver’s squad shot 41% for the game, 32% (7/22) from beyond the arc. The Raiders outrebounded Mount Marty 47-24, pulling down 12 on the offensive glass, and limited the Lancers to just one offensive rebound. Jay Small and Alex Van Kalsbeek both grabbed seven boards and Small dished out three assists.
Jailen Billings led the Lancers with 14 points, followed by Luke Ronsiek and Elijah Pappas with 12 each. Mount Marty shot 35% for the game, 27% (8/30) from the three-point line.
