Northwestern College Athletics

Colton Kooima and Nathan Wedel combined for 48 points in leading No.5 Northwestern College to a 103-73 win over Waldorf in the final game of the Friday night hardwood action at the Pizza Ranch Classic. Northwestern improves to 3-0 on the year and Waldorf drops to 1-3. 

Kooima poured in a game-high 25 points, knocking down a season-high five three-pointers, and Wedel added 23, going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Christian Korver scored 12, all from the three-point line, coming off the Red Raider bench. 

How It Happened...

Tied at 12, Northwestern blew the game open with a 23-2 run that ended with a Steven Kragt jumper to put his team up 35-14 with 8:33 left in the first half. The Red Raiders drained five three-pointers during the surge, four by Kooima and one by Korver. Northwestern pushed its lead to as many as 28 (53-25) and led 53-27 at the break. Northwestern shot 58% over the opening 20 minutes and held Waldorf to 27%.

A basket by Spencer Pauley gave Northwestern its largest lead, 80-43, at the 11-minute mark and Waldorf never got closer than 22 points in the final half. All 12 Northwestern players scored and saw at least five minutes of court time as coach Korver went to his bench often.

By the Numbers...

Northwestern shot 53% for the game, 52% (15/29) from the three-point line; Waldorf went 31% from the field, 38% (9/24) from the arc.

The Red Raiders had the edge at the free throw line, making 24-of-31 (77%); Waldorf made 18-of-23 free throws (778%)

Northwestern had the advantage on the glass, 42-39, led by Pauley, who pulled down a career-high seven; Wedel (6), Kooima (5) and Francis and Heyer each totaled four

With his 25 points, Kooima moved past one of his coaches, Ben Miller, into seventh place all-time in scoring with 1805 career points

Wedel moved past Kent McDonough (1982-84) into 15th all-time with 307 career assists; Wedel also passed Mark Johnson (1971-75) on the career scoring list, now stands 29th with 1,273 career points

Brian Smith led Waldorf with 14 points, one of three Warriors in double figures.