Alex Van Kalsbeek poured in a career-high 35 points as Northwestern rolled to a 111-79 home win against Hastings in a conference match-up played today at the Bultman Center. The Raiders pushed its win streak to a season-high three games and improved to 4-2 in the GPAC, 7-2 overall.
Van Kalsbeek was one missed shot from perfection as the freshman made 15-of-16 field goal attempts and made all five free throw attempts en route to the first 30-point game of his career.
Keegan Van Egdom scored all of his career-high 18 points from beyond the arc and pulled down 11 rebounds for his second career double-double. Jay Small contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds, his seventh double-double, to go with six assists. Craig Sterk (13pts) and Issac Heyer (12pts) also scored in double figures, giving Head Coach Kris Korver’s squad five players in double figures.
Northwestern began the game with an 11-2 run as Korver’s squad dominated the Broncos from the start. A three-pointer by Sterk and lay-up from Trent Hilbrands extended the lead to 16 (30-14) by the midpoint of the first half and a conventional three-point play by Van Kalsbeek pushed the lead to 20 before the break.
The Raiders shot 51% in the opening half and limited Hastings to 35% and just 22% from the three-point arc (3/14).
Northwestern ended any hope of a second half comeback early in the second half, outscoring Hastings 12-2 using the inside game of Van Kalsbeek (7pts) and three-point shooting from Van Egdom (3pts) during the run. The Raiders extended their lead to 30 with six minutes left.
The Raiders shot 58% for the game, 65% in the second half. Northwestern held a significant 42-29 edge on the glass and dished out 24 assists, led by Small (6), Van Kalsbeek (5) and Hilbrands (5).
Mason Hiemstra and Karson Gansebom led Hastings with 19 points each and Ben Juhl netted 16.
