Northwestern at Bellevue

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The Red Raiders fall to Bellevue (Neb.) in the semifinals, 70-67, at the 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship in Point Lookout, Mo. They end their season with a 30-5 overall record.

Northwestern, the fifth seed and winners of their last 13 games, and top seeded Bellevue, winners of their last 11, met for the second time at the national tournament (Red Raiders defeated Bellevue, 72-69 in the second round in 2005). The game was extremely tight throughout the first half as both teams held the lead. The Bruins closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room. Bellevue shot 50% in the first half and limited NWC to 44%. The Bruins also forced 12 first half turnovers.

Bellevue took their largest lead (38-28) in the opening minutes of the second half only to have Northwestern respond with a 10-2 run to cut it down to 40-38 with 15 minutes to play. The Red Raiders tied the score at 42 and had chances to take the lead over the next three minutes but were unable to do so. The Bruins built the lead back to seven (54-47) until five straight NWC points, including a three pointer by Curt Schilling, cut the lead back to two. Once again, the top-seeded Bruins withstood the comeback bid and managed to build the lead back to seven (62-55) with three minutes left until NWC responded back, cutting the lead to one on a Kale Wiertzema lay-in with 1:30 left to go. John Gray, who led Bellevue with 22 points, converted a three point play coming out of a timeout to put the Bruins up five. Chad Schuiteman responded with his own three point play to make the score 66-64 with 22.5 seconds left. With NWC forced to foul, Bellevue made 1-of-2 free throws on two consecutive trips to put the Bruins up four. Wiertzema hit a three pointer with 3.7 seconds left to make it a one point game once again (68-67). Northwestern fouled Gray and the senior hit two free throws to push the lead to three and a Wiertzema three at the buzzer was just off the mark and put Bellevue in their second ever championship game.

Northwestern was held to a tournament low 39% from the field and made 4-of-11 three point attempts (4/19). Kale Wiertzema led the Red Raiders in scoring with 19 points. Chad Schuiteman netted 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his final game as a Red Raider. In the process, the senior became the all-time leading rebounder at the national tournament with 135. Curt Schilling and Mark DeYounge closed out their brilliant careers with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Northwestern committed 17 turnovers but just five in the second half.

The Red Raiders end their fine season with a 30-5 overall mark.

NAIA National Tournament Page