A classic Sioux County rivalry continued Wednesday night as Northwestern and Dordt faced off in Sioux Center. A balanced scoring output led the Raiders past Dordt with a final score of 96-92. NW improved their record to 19-4 on the year while Dordt falls to 11-15.
The game was exciting from the start and remained competitive the rest of the way. The lead changed hands 12 times, with the largest lead of the game for either team being 11 points. Dordt used a 12-2 run to take the lead with 1:30 remaining in the game. Immediately after, senior Riley Francis converted on an and-one to give NW a 90-89 lead, which they would not give up for the rest of the game.
Both teams shot well, with Dordt shooting 53% and NW, 50%. The Raiders had five players score in double-figures, including senior Colton Kooima with 23 points and senior Nathan Wedel with 20. Francis also recorded his fourth double-double of the season, achieving 16 points and 10 rebounds. Dordt was led in scoring by Chandler Brunsting, who scored 18 points, including 10 rebounds.
NW moved to 2-0 against Dordt on the season as the Raiders won the first matchup 116-111 in overtime. Both matchups have shown that NW vs. Dordt is one of the top rivalries in the GPAC.
The next matchup for NW takes the Raiders to Seward, Nebraska to face Concordia on Saturday. In the first meeting between the schools, NW won 111-103, as Kooima set the NW single-game scoring record with 51 points. Concordia sits in fifth place in the GPAC with a 16-8 record overall, 7-6 in conference play.
During Wednesday’s game, Kooima moved into fourth place on NW’s career scoring list with 2,221 career points, and Wedel moved to 12th with 1,705 career points.
