No.5 Northwestern College used a big second half to pull away from Trinity Christian 101-69 in the first men's basketball game of the Defenders Thanksgiving Classic played tonight in Sioux Center, Iowa. 

The Red Raiders move their record to 8-0, their best start to a season since 2004-05 when they opened with a 10-0. Trinity Christian falls to 3-6 and has lost five straight games.

Leading 41-31 at the break, Northwestern shot 61% and outscored Trinity Christian 60-38 over the final 20 minutes to help secure the win. Derek Buysse and Colton Kooima shared team-high scoring honors with 21 points each with Buysse draining a career-high seven three-pointers, going 7-for-9 from beyond the arc. Nathan Wedel netted 20, 12 in the first half, and Riley Francis added 13 points and ripped down a career-best 16 rebounds. 

How It Happened...

Northwestern never trailed against Trinity Christian and opened up a 14-8 lead after Buysse's first three-pointer with 13:40 left in the first half. 

A three-pointer by Parker Mulder pushed Northwestern's lead to 11 (22-11) and the Red Raiders led from 4-12 points over the final 10 minutes, holding a 41-31 edge at the half. 

The Red Raiders put the game away with a 19-6 run over a four minute stretch, capped by a Buysse three-pointer, to open up an 81-52 lead with nine minutes to go.

By the Numbers...

Northwestern shot 57% for the game, 50% (15/30) from the three-point line against the zone defense played by Trinity Christian; the Red Raiders were very good from the foul line, going 24-26 (92%).

Trinity shot 42% for the game, 25% (6/24) from the three-point line, and 11/14 (79%) from the charity stripe

For the fifth straight game, Northwestern held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding TCC 40-22; the Red Raiders pulled down six on the offensive boards, five in the second half. 

Kooima scored 20+ points for the sixth time this season; Wedel fourth and Buysse third.

Francis posted his first double-double of the season, second for his career

Buysse drained a career-high seven three-pointers; previous high was five, accomplished five different times

Kooima passed Ben Gerleman (1997-2001) and is tied with Curt Schilling (2004-08) for second all-time in career three-pointers made (253)

Wedel passed Zack Leeper (2011-14) and is tied with Walker Seim (2008-12) for 22nd in career scoring w/ 1,369pts

Wedel is tied with Andrew Stimson (2005-09) for 13th place in career assists (327)

Caleb Jonkman led all players with 25 points, Nari Garrett added 12 points and two rebounds