On Saturday, Feb. 11, the (RV) Northwestern men’s basketball team (19-9, 11-7 GPAC) took to the court to defeat the Mount Marty Lancers (7-21, 3-15 GPAC). The night began with redshirt sophomore Matt Onken from Marshall, Minn, draining a three-point bucket, his first of seven for the night. Onken went on for a career high of 7-for-10 on three’s, 15-for-21 shooting from the floor, and 4-for-5 on free throws. With this, Onken crushed his career high from the previous 22 points to his new career high of 41 points.
“I thought the game went really well, my teammates were awesome as always and did a great job of getting me in the right spots. The crowd and atmosphere of the game was awesome too. The team is excited about the rest of the season and ready to make our push through the end into tournament time,” said Onken.
Following Onken’s performance was sophomore Alex Van Kalsbeek with 22 points and fifth year Trent Hilbrands with 12 points. NW took the lead at half 39-35, and then continued the rest of the game ending the second half 59-35. This led NW men’s basketball to victory 70-98 over the Lancers.
The game against the Lancers was also senior day for the NW basketball programs. The men’s team celebrated five seniors on the roster, Austin Alexander, Grant DeMeulenaere, Trent Hilbrands, Noah Slagter and Jesse Van Wyk. This celebration also included student-manager Becca Nevin.
Saturday’s game was one to remember for many reasons: Onken’s new career high, celebrating senior day and head coach Kris Kover’s 500th victory with the Raiders. Coach Korver did in fact reach this milestone of 500 victories after 22 seasons with the Raiders.
The NW Raiders took on the the Dordt Defenders and walked away victorious on Wednesday, Feb. 16. NW will travel on Feb. 18 to Hastings, Neb. against the Broncos. With only two games left in the regular season, the Raiders will look to push up in the GPAC rankings. 
