Northwestern at SW Minnesota State

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Game Time... The Red Raiders travel north to Marshall, Minn. to play Southwest Minnesota State in non-conference men's basketball action Wednesday night. Tipoff for the game slated for 7:00 p.m. Northwestern is 4-4 overall while the Mustangs are 5-1 overall and ranked 19th in the NCAA D-II poll. The game can be heard via the Southwest Minnesota State web-site at the following link: Listen Now! | Live Stats.

Scouting Report... The host Mustangs enter into the game against NWC with a 5-1 record and ranked 19th in the NCAA D-II poll. They opened the season with four straight wins, three of which in the Disney Classic (Calif.), but went 1-1 this weekend at the Hoops Fest Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D.  They lost to Augustana Saturday night, 78-74, but came back to defeat Upper Iowa on Sunday, 80-62.

Head Coach Greg Stemen is in his eighth season at SWMS and has guided the Mustangs to two 20-win seasons during his tenure. He is the program's all-time winningest coach and led his team to a third place finish in the very tough Northern Sun Conference in 2007. They finished 17-12 overall and just missed out on the postseason.

Gone from the 2007-08 squad are the Mustangs' top scorers, Matt Fletcher and Travis Krenske, who combined to average 27 points and convert 159 three pointers on the season. SWMS does return three starters and eight letter winners, led by 6-8 senior Ross DeMasi. The post player is shooting 55% from the floor, putting in 7.7 points per game. DeMasi also leads the team with 11.2 rebounds per game. Guards Kevin Andrews and Ryan Krome also return after starting most of last season. Andrews is one of two players averaging in double figures (11) and is second on the team with 11 three-pointers. Krome, a 5-10 senior, averages 7.5 points per game. Transfer junior Jon DeRock leads the Mustangs averaging just under 14 points per game. The 6-1 guard is shooting better then 50% from beyond the arc and has made 17 three-pointers. Juniors Nick Dale (8.5ppg) and Andrew Peschong (9.2ppg) are the other top scorers for SWMS.

Last Time Out... Southwest Minnesota State, ranked 19th in the country, rebounded from its first loss of the season with an 80-62 victory over Upper Iowa on Sunday afternoon at the NSIC HoopsFest in Sioux Falls, S.D.

SMSU dominated the glass on Sunday, holding a 38-20 rebound advantage including pulling down 13 offensive rebounds. They never trailed in the game jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes.  SMSU held a 21-18 lead with 8:35 left in the first half before going on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to push the lead to 31-18 with 5:35 remaining. The Mustangs pushed the lead to 15 on two occasions early in the second half before the Peacocks would rally and cut the lead to 51-43 with 12:55 left in the second half.  SMSU held a 56-46 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game before SMSU’s Andy Beilke hit a jumper to push the lead back to 58-46.  After an UIU basket, Beilke connected on his lone three-pointer of the game to give SMSU a 61-48 lead with 8:30 remaining in the contest and the Mustangs never looked back as the lead never hit single digits for the remainder of the game.

SMSU shot a blistering 60 percent (15 of 25) from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 54.5 percent (30 of 55) including 50 percent (8 of 16) from three-point range. Kevin Andrews scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Mustang offense as he drilled 6 of 8 shots including two three-pointers. Peschong added 12 points and six assists while Jon DeRock (10)and Ryan Krome (11) rounded out the Mustang double figuring scoring.

The Northwestern men's basketball team lost its GPAC opener to Dordt College 89-79 in front of a packed house in the Bultman Center last Tuesday night.

The game was very tight early on as the lead switched hands seven times during the opening eight minutes. With Northwestern leading by three, 20-17, Dordt outscored the hosts 7-2 to take the lead for good, 24-22. The Defenders built the lead up to double digits by halftime, 54-42.

Northwestern opened the second half on a 9-4 run and cut the Defender lead to seven on a Ben Brown three-pointer, 58-51. Dordt, however, responded with another run and built the lead back up to 14, 72-58, with just over 10 minutes to go. The Raiders made one more charge and were able to cut the lead down to four (80-76) in the closing minutes but Dordt scored five straight points to preserve the win.

Kale Wiertzema was outstanding once again with 31 points, four rebounds and two assists. The senior guard made 11-of-21 field goal attempts as he scored over 30 points for the third time this season. Ben Brown was the only other NWC player in double figures with 16. He also dished out a team-high six assists.

Red Raider Notes... Northwestern is averaging an impressive 90.5 points per game, shooting 52% from the floor and 43% from beyond the arc. They hold a +7 advantage on the glass so far this season.

Three players are scoring in double figures, led by Kale Wiertzema who boasts a league-best 25.4 points per game average. The senior guard, who has scored over 1,000 points in his career, leads the team with 22 three-pointers and is shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Wiertzema is second on the team with 22 assists and also averages three boards per game. Ben Brown ranks second on the team averaging 13 points per game and is second on the team with 20 three-pointers. An excellent rebounder, Brown pulls down 3.6 boards per game. Michael Jiskoot, a 6-5 force in the paint, averages 11.3 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 65% from the floor. Andrew Stimson runs the point and dishes out a team-high 30 assists to go with 9.3 points per game. Brent Dunkelberger averages 7.3 points and 3.8 boards per game.

Next Up... Northwestern will continue GPAC play on Saturday, Dec. 6 against Midland Lutheran in Fremont, Neb.