Bellevue at Northwestern

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Game Time... The Red Raider men's basketball team resumes its season this weekend as they play in the Dordt College Thanksgiving Classic in Sioux Center, Iowa. Coach Korver's squad has won four straight and comes in with a 4-3 record, 2-0 in the GPAC. They will face 12th-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) on Friday night at 6:00 pm and will play Central Baptist (Ark.) on Saturday at 2:00 pm. Listen live to the games via the NWC webcast at the following link: Listen Now! You can also watch/listen to the games via the Dordt College webcast at the following link: Watch/Listen Now!

All-Time Records... This marks the first time that Northwestern has played Central Baptist and will be the ninth meeting against Bellevue. The Raiders hold a 5-3 all-time advantage against the Bruins, including a 1-1 record last year. Coach Korver's squad knocked off Bellevue on the road last season, ending the Bruins three-year and 40+ home game win streak.

Scouting Reports...Bellevue: The Bruins are 3-4 on the season heading into the weekend. Bellevue, from the very competitive Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, is one of three conference teams in the NAIA preseason top 25, coming in at #12. Defending national champion Oklahoma Wesleyan (1) and national runner-up College of the Ozarks (5) are also in the preseason poll. Last year, Bellevue finished the season with a 24-9 overall record and played in its seventh straight national tournament, losing in the Sweet Sixteen. They finished in second place in the MCAC, third in the conference tournament, ending a two-year run as both the regular season and conference tournament champions. In 2007-08, the Bruins were the national runner-ups, losing to Oregon Tech in the title game. Shane Paben, in his second year as the head coach of the Bruins, returns two starters and four players off last year's squad.

The Bruins opened the season with a 89-85 loss to Morningside but came back to defeat Doane (72-66). A loss to William Penn followed and then a 1-1 record at the Midland Lutheran Classic where they defeated MLC (65-58) and lost to Grand View (69-56). They then split a pair of games at the Southwest State Classic, defeating Upper Iowa 81-75 but losing to SW Minnesota State (66-53).

Senior guard Ron King leads the Bruins averaging 14 points per game and ranks second with 5.1 boards per game. He earned first team all-MCAC honors and started nearly every game last year. Jace Fredenburg also returns and averages 11.3 points per game. King and Fredenburg were the top three-point shooters in 2008-09 and have made 9 and 17 three-pointers this season. Ousseynou Diop, a 6-10 sophomore, totaled 35 blocks last season and averages five points, five boards and nearly two blocks per game this year. Newcomers Avery Tyler and Aaryon Williams join Coach Paben's squad as junior college transfers. A 6-1 junior guard from Des Moines Area CC, averages 13.3 points and four rebounds per game. He earned MCAC player-of-the-week honors last week. Williams, a 6-4 junior who came from Kaplan CC, averages 12 points and a team-best six boards per game.

             Central Baptist: The Mustangs are affiliated with the NCCAA D-I and head into the upcoming weekend with a 5-1 record. Last year, Central Baptist finished with a school record 22 wins and were the fourth seed at the NCCAA D-I national tournament. They lost in the Elite Eight and finished the season with a 22-11 record. The Mustangs also set a school record by scoring 2,714 points last season. They are coached by Josh Austin.

CBC opened the season with five straight wins but lost its first game to John Brown University (91-74) last Saturday, Nov. 21. The Mustangs are led by all-region, senior guard Ryan Barnes who averages 29 points per game with a team-best 13 three-pointers. Both C.J. McCoy (11.6) and Will Johnson (10.8) average in double figures as well. Junior forward Mike Holder averages 6.8 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game. As a team, Central Baptist averages 91ppg, shooting 42% from the three-point line.

Red Raider News and Notes... Northwestern comes in with a four-game win streak (4-3) and is among four GPAC teams with an undefeated record in the GPAC (2-0). As a team, the Raiders are second in the GPAC in scoring (81) and are fifth in the league in field goal percentage (46%). They lead the conference in three-point shooting (40%) and have made 57 three-pointers.

Individually, Daniel Van Kalsbeek leads the Raiders in scoring (19.1) and rebounding (6.1). The freshman is shooting 54% from the field and ranks fifth in the GPAC with eight blocked shots. Walker Seim is eighth in the NAIA and leads the GPAC with 26 three-pointers, shooting an impressive 49% from the three-point line. The sophomore averages nearly 15 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Ben Miller is the other NWC player scoring in double figures with 11.6 points per game. He ranks third in the league in free throw percentage (84%). Juniors Brent Dunkelberger and Ryan Hoogveen average 7.3 and 7.1 points per game, respectively. Mike Vorwald leads the team with 35 assists.

Up Next... The Raiders will host a pair of conference games next week, beginning with Dordt on Dec. 2, followed by a Dec. 5 contest against Dana.