As the new year has begun so has the NW men’s basketball team. The men’s basketball team got back into the swing of things on January 3 with a game against Concordia, their first game since December 17. The Raiders got behind in the first half as Concordia pushed their way to a 14-point lead at the end of the first half. However, the second half saw the Raiders fight to close the gap clawing their way to a much closer 82-85 score to end the game. Although the Raiders took home a loss, they still managed to outscore the Concordia Bulldogs 45-34 in the second half. The next game against Mount Marty on January 7 ended similarly in a narrow loss for NW with a final score of 78-83.
The second week of play was a welcome change of pace for the Raiders as they racked up two wins against Briar Cliff and Hastings on January 14 and 17 respectively. The Raiders handily defeated Briar Cliff with a final score of 100-73. They played their third close game of the new year, pulling ahead from a first half deficit to win by just four points with a final score of 90-86 against Hastings.
Head coach Colton Kooima said, “after a long Christmas Break, our Men’s Basketball team is beginning to find its rhythm again. We started the second semester off slowly, dropping a couple of close games. We are looking to create some momentum as we approach the home stretch of our season. We have a great group of guys that enjoy being together and competing together”.
The women’s team did not get the same time off as the men’s team did during the winter break playing games on December 19, 20 and 30 in which they took home one win and two losses. The team kicked off the new year when they played Concordia on January 3. Their game ended similarly to the men’s game with a close loss and a final score of 67-69. Their next game on January 7 against Mount Marty was another close game throughout with the score tied 37-37 at halftime. However, Mounty Marty managed to get a two-point lead by the end of the third quarter and kept their momentum to finish seven points ahead with a final score of 65-72. The women played again on January 10 defeating the Saint Mary Flames, staying ahead the whole duration, and finishing with a comfortable 18-point lead and a final score of 76-58. On January 14 and 17 the team played Briar Cliff and Hastings. NW had a tough second half against Briar Cliff as they tried to make up a 20-point deficit. Despite a strong push including five consecutive three-pointers Briar Cliff’s lead was too great and NW lost 70-79. NW also lost to Hastings 69-82, falling behind after a close first half.
The men’s and women’s teams currently sit at 15-5 and 9-10 respectively, as they look ahead to playing the Midland Warriors on January 24.
