The NW men’s basketball team continued their winning streak in a home game against William Penn on Nov. 11. While the Raiders got a lead in the opening moments of the game the Statesmen quickly pulled ahead and maintained their lead throughout the first half with a seven-point lead at halftime. The second half began with William Penn leading 66-59 but the Raiders began a strong offensive push and managed to regain their lead with 72 points to the Statesmen’s 71. Following this the Raiders kept their momentum, breaking free of the back and forth scoring with a 13-point run bringing the score to 118-98. The game finished with a score of 128-106.
Jalen Langsy and Jesse Van Kalsbeek both scored career highs again during this game with 49 and 47 points respectively. This makes Langsy the third highest scorer for an individual game in NW history. Luke Korver also shot a career-high nine points.
The team also took home their first loss of the season on Nov. 15 falling to the Doane Tigers. The score stayed close in the first half with the Raiders and the Tigers stealing the lead. The half closed with the Raiders narrowly leading 39-37. The teams continued to shift leads throughout the second half, with Doane edging out the Raiders in the end taking home a narrow 71-75 win.
The women’s team fared much better against the Tigers taking home a win in their only game of the week. NW started with a bang managing to get a ten-point lead within the first 3 minutes of play. The Raiders kept the pressure on Doane as the Tigers managed to tie the score three times in the first half, but never pulled ahead. During the second half the Tigers managed to briefly take the lead but were quickly shut down as the Raiders regained their lead and closed the game with an 82-67 victory.
Senior Ellie Karolevitz and freshman Aubrey Metzger both shot career highs with 15 and 9 points respectively.
Head Coach Chris Yaw said “The ladies did a good job of sticking together. We didn’t play our best half of basketball in the first half, however, they continued to play together and give great effort. In the end, we were consistent on defense and made some offensive plays as a team to pull away in the 4th quarter for a solid road win”.
Looking ahead the men’s and women’s teams will play Dordt in Sioux Center on Nov. 19 marking the second GPAC matchup of the season for both teams.
