Game Time...Fifth-ranked Northwestern College opens its 2017-18 season with a pair of games in North Dakota this weekend. The Red Raiders will face the University of Jamestown on Friday night at 8pm and return to the court on Saturday to play Valley City State at 5pm. 

Both games can be followed at the links below: 

Jamestown game Friday night: Watch Now | Live Stats

Valley City State game Saturday: Watch Now | Live Stats

All-Time...Northwestern has the edge in the all-time series against both of the weekend opponents:

    Red Raiders lead the series against Jamestown 9-5, winning two straight and four of the last five; last year, Northwestern defeated the Jimmies 95-72 at the Bultman Center. The teams played their first game back in 1972-73.

    Northwestern is 9-3 all-time against Valley City State, earning an 86-79 home win over the Vikings last season; Red Raiders are 3-2 over the last five match-ups against VCSU

Scouting Reports...

    University of Jamestown: 4-1       Head Coach: Danny Neville  (3rd year)

Jamestown is off to a 4-1 start to the season, earning two wins over both Brandon University and Providence College while losing to No.10 Dakota Wesleyan Tuesday night in Mitchell, S.D. 95-80. Coach Neville is in his third season as the head of the program and sixth season overall with the program (3 years as ass't). He returns one starter and three players off a 2016-17 squad that shared the NSAA regular season title with Bellevue and Dickinson State at 11-5, and finished with an 18-14 overall record.

    By the Numbers: 
    Scoring Offense: 110 ppg (5th in NAIA)
    Scoring Defense: 79 ppg

    Field Goal Percentage: 54%
    3pt Percentage: 45%, 58 3pters (1st in NAIA)
    Free Throw Percentage: 72%

    Rebound Margin: +13

    Top Players 
    Ben Weisbeck-transfer from Augustana: 17.4ppg, 5.8rpg, 65% FG
    Leighton Sampson-transfer from Dordt: 17.2ppg, 8.2rpg  (2x all-GPAC; 1,000-pt scorer)
    Kevin Oberweiser (transfer from Montana State-Northern: 15.8ppg, 16 3pters (1st in NAIA)
    Jon Purintun-returning starter: 14.8ppg, 21 assists
    Sam Johnson-returning letterwinner: 10ppg, 15 3pters (2nd in NAIA)

    (RV) Valley City State: 1-2      Head Coach; Ryan Montgomery (2nd year)

Earning votes in the NAIA D-II preseason poll, the Vikings are off to a 1-2 start to the 2017-18 season, defeating Brandon University but losing to both Minot State and Peru State. Coach Montgomery is in his second season as the head of the VCSU program, taking over in April of 2106 after serving as an assistant at Bemidiji State. Valley City State returns two starters and five players from a 2016-17 team that finished tied for fifth in the NSAA at 8-8, 16-15 overall. They were picked to finish second in the conference preseason poll.

By the Numbers: 
    Scoring Offense: 73.7 ppg
    Scoring Defense: 81 ppg

    Field Goal Percentage: 43%
    3pt Percentage: 32%, 18 3pters 
    Free Throw Percentage: 78%

    Rebound Margin: -5

    Top Players 
    Jayden Ferguson (All-Conference): 19ppg, 3rpg, 6 assists
    Rashad Satahoo (returning starter): 17ppg, 4 3pters, 7 assists
    Justyn Galloway: 11.7ppg, 10.3rpg
    Jouvon Edison: 5.7ppg, 3.7rpg

No.5 Northwestern College: 0-0 (2017-18)                 Head Coach: Kris Korver (18th year)

Northwestern returns four starters and seven letterwinners from a 2017 team that finished second in the GPAC regular season with a 13-5 record and went on to win the conference postseason championship. They qualified for the NAIA D-II Championship, earning a win over Washington Adventist in the first round before losing to Indiana Wesleyan. Kris Korver returns for his 18th season as the Red Raiders head coach.

By the Numbers: (based on 2016-17 season)
    Scoring Offense: 90 ppg
    Scoring Defense: 79 ppg

    Field Goal Percentage: 51% (5th in NAIA)
    3pt Percentage: 38%, 304 3pters 
    Free Throw Percentage: 76%

    Rebound Margin:+12 (2nd in NAIA)

    Top Players: (2016-17 stats)
    Colton Kooima-1st team NAIA All-American: 24ppg, 90 3pters, 107 assists
    Derek Buysse-All-Conference: 14.1ppg, 77 3pters, 5.4 rpg
    Nathan Wedel-All-Conference: 13.6ppg, 5.8 rpg, 107 assists
    Riley Francis: All-Conference: 9ppg, 4.8rpg, 45 3pters
    Chris Borchers: 4.9ppg, 54 assists, 2.4 rpg
    Parker Mulder: 4.1ppg, 2.3 rpg, 64 assists