Game Time...Northwestern, the second seed, will battle fifth seed Briar Cliff in the championship of the GPAC Postseason Tournament. Northwestern, ranked seventh in the NAIA poll, is 26-4 overall while Briar Cliff received votes in the final poll and 22-11 overall.
Last Meetings...This is the third meeting of the season between the two teams with each team winning on their home court. Briar Cliff defeated NWC 70-65 on Jan. 16 in Sioux City which ended the Red Raiders then nine-game win streak. The Red Raiders held a slim 30-28 lead before a 12-2 Charger run put BCU up early in the second half. Northwestern regained the lead 51-50 until BCU outscored NWC 9-0 to take the lead for good with two minutes to play. Brett Ratcliff scored a game-high 19 points, including 13-13 from the free throw line. Neil Rohe added 17 for the Chargers. Chad Schuiteman led Northwestern with 16 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. Coach Korver’s squad defeated Briar Cliff in the final game of the regular season (Feb. 23), 95-80. With the score tied at 19, Northwestern went on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good with nine minutes left in the first half. The Red Raiders led by 11 (52-41) at intermission and led by as much as 20 late in the game. Curt Schilling led NWC with 25 points while Kale Wiertzema and Andrew Stimson scored 19 each. Briar Cliff was led by Adi Cizmic with 25 points and Brett Ratcliff added 14.
How They Got Here...Northwestern cruised to a 91-63 victory over seventh-seeded USF in the quarterfinals of the GPAC Tournament and then defeated 16th-ranked Dakota Wesleyan in the semi’s, 86-78. NWC led by five at intermission but DWU tied the game at 42 early in the second half. A 12-3 run put the Red Raiders up for good and put NWC in the GPAC Championship game for the second straight year. Schuiteman led all scorers with 22 points and also ripped down 13 boards.
Briar Cliff defeated top-seed Morningside in the semifinals 69-66 on Saturday afternoon. The game was tied at 33 at intermission and used a 13-3 run late in the second half to pull away in a very close game. Neil Rohe and Brett Ratcliff each scored 17 points to lead the Chargers, who limited Morningside to just 40% from the field. In the opening round, Briar Cliff knocked off Midland Lutheran 73-56 and then upset Dordt in the quarterfinals, 79-70.
Scouting Report... The Chargers are fifth in the league in scoring averaging 74ppg. They give up 67ppg, fifth best in the GPAC, and lead the league in field goal percentage defense (41%). BCU averages 16 turnovers per game and is fifth in the league in rebounding.
Individually, the senior-dominated Chargers are led by Neil Rohe and Adi Cizmic, averaging 16 and 13.5ppg. Rohe is seventh in the GPAC in field goal percentage (54%) and in rebounding (6rpg). Cizmic and fellow senior Kurt Webb are the top perimeter shooters with 54 and 55 three pointers this season. Junior guard Brett Ratcliff averages 8.2ppg and is fourth in the league with 106 assists. Dehonis Williams rounds out the starting lineup averaging 7.8ppg, 4.5 rpg and is sixth in the GPAC with 31 blocks.
Red Raider Notes...The Red Raiders are gunning for their first GPAC Postseason Championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002. They lost to USF, 61-50, in last year's final and lost in the league semifinals the two years prior to 2007.
Head Coach Kris Korver, in his eighth year with the Red Raiders, is the all-time winningest coach with a 218-47 record during his tenure. He has led his team to the national tournament in each of his seasons at NWC, twice winning the national championship.
Northwestern leads the GPAC averaging 88 points per game and is shooting a league-best 51% from the floor. As a team, they have made 243 three pointers (second in the GPAC) and shoot 41% from beyond the arc. NWC is the fourth best rebounding team (+5) and give up 76ppg.
The Red Raiders boast two players who have scored over 2,000 points in their careers in Chad Schuiteman and Curt Schilling. Schuiteman surpassed the milestone earlier this year and with 19 points in the Red Raiders quarterfinal win over USF, Schilling became the fifth NWC player to reach the milestone. Teammate Mark DeYounge is closing in on 1,000 points (993 coming into the game) and junior Kale Wiertzema is also getting close with 966. Schilling leads the GPAC averaging 20ppg and also has made a league-best 83 three pointers. Schuiteman is 10th in the GPAC in scoring at 14.8ppg and leads the league in rebounding with 11.4 boards per game. Wiertzema also averages in double figures at 13.2 and along with Schuiteman, rank in the top five in assists. DeYounge (9.4) and Andrew Stimson (8.6) are the other top scorers for NWC.
2007-08 Media guide
