Northwestern at Benedictine

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Game Time... The Red Raiders will make their 2009-10 season debut as they travel to Atchison, Kan. to play Benedictine College in men's basketball late Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4:00 pm. Both teams are making their season debut and you can listen to all the action via the Ravens webcast at the following link: Listen Now!

The Coaches... Joe Brickner begins his 11th season at his alma mater and has accumulated a 121-151 overall record during his tenure. Kris Korver begins his 10th season as head of the Red Raiders program. A 1992 graduate and four-year letter winner for NWC, Korver has an impressive 238-61 record  for a winning percentage of 79.6%. Korver has guided the Raiders to eight national tournament appearances (2001-2008) and two national championships (2001, 2003).

Scouting Report on Benedictine... The Ravens are members of the competitive Heart of America Athletic Confererence and collectively as a conference, made the jump to the NAIA D-I division last season. Benedictine went through a rebuilding year in 2008-09 but still managed a sixth place finish in the HAAC with an 8-12 record, 10-18 overall. They lost in the first round of the conference tournament to William Jewell (Mo.). Prior to that, the Ravens were 13-17 in the 2007-08 and 20-10 in 2006-07. They were picked to finish seventh out of 11 teams in this year's HAAC preseason poll.

Benedictine returns four of their top six scorers off last year's squad, led by sophomore point guard Geno McNeil who was named the HAAC Freshman-of-the-Year in 2008-09. The 5-9 guard averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and dished out 52 assists. McNeil ranked second on the team with 39 steals. Chris Bonham, a 6-10 sophomore, ranked second on the team in both scoring (10.5) and rebounds (6.9) while ranking 10th in the NAIA D-I with 63 blocks. Seniors Jeremy Hamilton and Jack Johnson also return and will be looked upon to provide the outside shooting for the Ravens. Hamilton, a 5-10 guard who started 15 games last season, averaged nine points per game and converted 31% of his three-point attempts (24/77). A 5-9 senior, Johnson shot 37% from beyond the arc (24/65) and averaged 8.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game last year.

Some newcomers who could contribute this season for the Ravens are Mike Harry, a 6-9 transfer junior who last played for Claflin University (S.C.) and Alex Miller, a 6-6 transfer sophomore from Phoenix College.

All-Time Series... This marks the first meeting between the two teams.

Red Raider Notes... Northwestern finished the 2008-09 season with a 16-13 overall record. They ended conference play in fourth place with an 11-7 record and lost to Hastings (Neb.) in the GPAC Quarterfinals to end the season. The Raiders return one starter and five letter winners off the 2008-09 squad.

Two-year starter Ryan Hoogeveen is the top returning scorer for Coach Korver's squad. The junior guard averaged 7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and just over one assist in 18 games last season. Hoogeveen shot 50% from beyond the arc (15/30) and totaled eight blocks. Brent Dunkelberger, a 6-8 junior forward, started 17 games as a sophomore and averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 2008-09. The lone senior on this year's team is 6-2 guard Jerome Hoegh, who averaged 2.5 points and hit 11 three-pointers last year. Sophomores Walker Seim and Ryan Stock saw significant time on the court as freshmen in 2008-09. A 6-3 shooting guard, Seim shot a GPAC-best 48% from beyond the arc (19/40) and averaged 6.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. A 6-4 forward, Stock played in 12 games and averaged nearly three points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

Coach Korver's squad welcomes 10 newcomers to this year's squad, including junior Jon Kramer and sophomore Adam Olson. A transfer from North Dakota State College of Science, Kramer averaged nearly nine points, 3.5 rebounds and three assists in leading his team to the national tournament last year. Olson, a 6-2 guard, sat out last year. Eight freshmen will also be looked upon to contribute, including post players Daniel Van Kalsbeek and Stuart Goslinga and forwards Ben Miller and Jacey Hoegh.

Up Next... The Raiders travel to North Dakota to play Jamestown and Valley City State next weekend, Nov. 6-7.