The Raiders clinched the regular season GPAC championship with Wednesday’ 86-83 victory over Dakota Wesleyan. Northwestern stands at a 22-5 overall record with one regular season game left to play before they host the eight-team GPAC tournament.
“We feel like we set ourselves up in a really good position going forward into the tournament with this win,” said junior guard Zack Leeper.
Senior guard Ben Miller scored 25 points and led all scorers for the game. The versatile senior also pulled down 12 rebounds and handed out five assists. Senior post Daniel Van Kalsbeek added 18 points. Sophomore forward Levi Ettleman scored 12, and Leeper chipped in 11.
“We were able to get stops after our slow start that allowed us to get fast-break points,” Ettleman said. “We turned the game into our style of play in the second half.”
NW overcame a 37-32 first half deficit and opened up the second half on an 8-3 run. The run was capped off by a steal from senior guard Josh Vander Plaats that turned into an Ettleman jump shot to even the score at 40.
The Raiders never looked back and went onto outscore the Tigers 54-46 in the second half.
“We overcame the adversity in the first half really well as a team and maintained our focus to get the win,” Leeper said.
NW shot a solid 49 percent from the floor and held Dakota Wesleyan to 44 percent. The Raiders only shot 25 percent from three-point while the Tigers shot a hot 47 percent. NW outscored the Tigers 29-19 in bench play.
On Saturday, NW visited Doane and came home with a 100-75 victory. The win helped secure more breathing room for the No. 5 Raiders as they remain on top of the GPAC.
The Raiders were led by Leeper, who scored 20 points in the contest. Miller added 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists. Vander Plaats scored a career-high 18 points from the guard position. In the front court, Van Kalsbeek and fellow senior post Stu Goslinga added 16 and 12 points, respectively. Goslinga also added nine rebounds.
The No. 17 Tigers were held to only 35 percent shooting and 28 percent from three-point land by a determined Raider defense. NW shot an efficient 61 percent from the floor but only 33 percent on three-point attempts.
“I thought that we moved the ball really well on offense,” Ettleman said. “We were at our best when we rebounded and ran for layups in transition.”
The Raiders used their size in the post to outscore the Tigers 54-34 in the paint. NW also had strong production from the bench, which outscored Doane’s reserves 27-15.
The Raiders close out the regular season Saturday at the Bultman Center against conference foe Midland. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.
