Bruins drop hard-fought contest at NWC, 82-79

Box Score

In a game that featured six ties and 10 lead changes, the Bellevue University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle at Northwestern College (Iowa), 82-79, Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Bultman Center. Neither team led by more than nine points in the contest. 

The Bruins, who lost to the Raiders, 76-60, on Nov. 7, fell to 6-9 on the season. Northwestern improved to 9-4 overall. 

Jemeil King led the Bruins with 19 points and five assists. Lewis Hayes was 8-of-12 from the field, finishing with 18 points and five rebounds. Michael Wright scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds. Jaylen Wiltz was the fourth Bruin in double figures, finishing with 11 points, along with three rebounds a pair of assists. 

Alex Van Kalsbeek led all players with 28 points and 12 rebounds. He was 10-of-14 from the field and hit 8-of-11 free throws. Trent Hilbrands finished with 18 points and a pair of boards. Isaac Heyer was perfect from the field and the charity stripe, finishing with 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists.  

The most telling statistic of the contest was at the free-throw line. The Raiders were 19-of-25 from the charity stripe, while the Bruins were just 5-of-9 from the free-throw line. 

Both teams traded baskets in the early going until the Bruins scored 10-straight points to take a 35-26 lead with 6:51 remaining in the first half. The Raiders answered with an 11-2 run to make it a two-point game (37-35) at the 2:34 mark. After NWC got as close as one point following two free throws by Van Kalsbeek, Hayes nailed a 15-foot jumper to make it 42-39 in favor of the Bruins at the intermission. 

King led BU in the opening half with 12 points and a pair of assists. Hayes added nine points and two rebounds.

Van Kalsbeek paced the Raiders in the opening 20 minutes with 10 points, six boards, and a pair of assists. 

After a 3-pointer by Michael Wright gave the Bruins a seven-point advantage early in the second half, a four-point play by Hilbrands sparked a 10-3 NWC run, tying the contest at 57-all midway through the second stanza. 

A triple by Isaac gave the Raiders their first lead of the second half at 60-59 at the 9:36 mark and an 8-3 spurt expanded the NWC advantage to 68-62 with 6:23 left in the game.

Five-straight points by the Bruins trimmed the deficit to a single point at 70-69 and a 3-pointer by KeShawn Bruner helped BU regain the lead at 72-71 with 3:50 left in regulation. 

Four-consecutive points from Hilbrands gave the Raiders a 3-point advantage until Wiltz drained a triple to knot the contest at 75-75 with just over two minutes remaining. 

After Hilbrands drilled 2-of-3 free throws to give NWC a 78-75 lead, Wright completed a 3-point play to tie the game at 78-all with 44 ticks left in the game.  

Van Kalsbeek made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Red Raiders a one-point lead and then a steal by Craig Sterk on the ensuing BU possession led to two free throws by Heyer to give NWC an 81-78 lead. 

King was fouled with two seconds remaining. He made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. It was ruled his second free throw did not touch the rim, giving the Raiders the ball. Van Kalsbeek made the final, 82-79 after drilling one-of-two free throws to end the contest. 

The Bruins will return home on Dec. 29-30 when they host the four-team Fairfield Inn & Suites Holiday Classic.