Game Time... The Red Raiders begin play at the 2008 NAIA D-II Men's Basketball Championship tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) against Minot State (N.D.). Northwestern, the fifth seed, brings a 28-4 overall record against the unseeded Beavers, who are 19-11 overall. Tipoff for the game is slated for noon and can be heard via the NWC web-cast at the following link: web-cast.
Scouting Report... The Beavers of Minot State are making their third trip to the national tournament and second in four years under Head Coach Mike Hultz. MSU qualified for the postseason by winning the DAC postseason tournament, defeating third seed Valley City State (N.D.) and upsetting Jamestown (N.D.) in the finals. They are on a six-game win streak.
Minot State is the ninth highest scoring team in the NAIA, averaging 85ppg. They shoot 47% from the field, 36% from beyond the arc (213/589). The Beavers give up 81ppg and opponents are shooting 47% from the field. Minot State is out-rebounding their opponents this season by a +1 margin. As a team, they are second in the nation in free throw percentage at 77%.
Individually, senior forward Mat Witwer leads the Beavers averaging 17ppg. The first team all-DAC player ranks second on the team averaging 5.3rpg and is shooting 45% from beyond the arc. CJ DeWitty, a second team all-DAC junior guard, averages 15.4 and 4.4rpg. He is seventh in the NAIA in assists with 171 and is second on the team with 51 three pointers. Guards Aaron Patterson and Joe Gathings average 15 and 14.3, respectively. Gathings is shooting 40% from beyond the arc and has made 54 three pointers this season. 6-8 junior center Milan Cvetkovic averages seven points per game while sophomore forward Andy Leraas leads the team with 6.2rpg. Senior forward Jessie Ford rounds out the starting lineup and is shooting 51% from the floor and nets 5.7ppg.
Last Time Out... Minot State defeated top-seeded Jamestown in the DAC Championship game, 87-85, back on March 2. CJ DeWitty paced five MSU players in double figures with 23 points, including the game-winner jumper from the free throw line as time expired. Aaron Patterson added 16 points while Andy Leraas recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Northwestern College men's basketball team defeated Briar Cliff 77-69 on March 4 to earn the GPAC Postseason Tournament Championship. Northwestern went on the game's first run, leading 9-3 just five minutes into the first half. Briar Cliff closed the gap over a 10 minutes span and took the lead back 22-21 with under 10 minutes to play. The teams exchanged the lead six times during the final stages of the first half including an incredible final seven seconds in which Kale Wiertzema converted a three point play followed by a three pointer by Charger guard Matt Geelan as time expired which gave BCU a 36-35 lead at intermission.
With the momentum in their favor, Briar Cliff began the second half on a 12-6 to take their biggest lead, 48-41, with 14 minutes left to play. Northwestern battled back to cut the lead to two but BCU pushed the lead back to five, 61-56, with seven minutes to play. The Red Raiders then outscored the Chargers 11-0 to take the lead for good, 67-61. BCU made one more run to cut the lead down to five but a three pointer by Ben Brown on the left baseline clinched the win for Northwestern.
Northwestern shot 55% for the game compared to 43% for the Chargers. Kale Wiertzema led a balanced NWC attack with 15 points while Ben Brown netted a career-high 14 off the bench. Curt Schilling scored 12 and both Chad Schuiteman and Mark DeYounge netted 11 points. DeYounge, with a three pointer in the first half, became the 37th Red Raider player in the program's history to score 1,000 points.
Red Raider Notes... Head Coach Kris Korver has led the Red Raiders to the national tournament in each of his eight years at NWC, twice winning the national championship. Northwestern will be making their 10th straight tournament appearance, 13th overall. They are the winningest program in the tournament's history (25-10) for a .806 winning percentage.
Northwestern is the fifth highest scoring team in the NAIA, averaging just over 87ppg. They are third in the nation with a shooting percentage of 51% and shoot 41% from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Red Raiders give up 76ppg and opponents shoot 44% against the NWC defense. Northwestern is out-rebounding their opponents by a +5 margin this season.
Individually, NWC is led by a pair of 2,000 point scorers, seniors Chad Schuiteman and Curt Schilling. Both first team all-GPAC players, Schilling led the conference in scoring (19.7) and three pointers (83) while Schuiteman averaged 14.7ppg and a league-best 11.3rpg. Schuiteman also led the league in steals (58) and was among the conference leaders in assists with 127. Junior Kale Wiertzema earned second team all-league honors after averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and dishing out 112 assists. He has scored 981 points in his career. Mark DeYounge is the most recent NWC player to break the 1,000 point milestone, doing so in the last game against Briar Cliff. He is averaging 9.3ppg and 3.7 rpg. Andrew Stimson is second on the team with 45 three pointers and is one of the leaders on the defensive end. Sharpshooter Ben Brown (6.2ppg), Ryan Hoogeveen (4.8ppg) and Travis Van Regenmorter (4.6ppg) are the other top scorers for NWC.
Next up... The winner of the opening round game will play either #12 William Penn or Oklahoma Wesleyan on Friday afternoon at 1:45pm.
2007-08 Media guide
