Northwestern College dropped a close game to No. 7 Dakota Wesleyan, 83-77, in the final match-up of the regular season played tonight at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.

Both teams finish conference play with a 13-5 record and will have to wait until Saturday night (Feb. 18) to find out their seed for the upcoming GPAC postseason tournament. Northwestern is 23-6 overall and DWU improved to 22-8 on the year. 

It was rough shooting night for the Red Raiders as they went a season-low 14% (3/22) from beyond the arc. 

Colton Kooima led Northwestern with 17 points, followed closely by Nathan Wedel, who scored 16 and pulled down eight rebounds in his return to the line-up. Jordan Baker provided a spark off the bench with his second double-double of the season, scoring 14 points to go with 12 boards. Riley Francis was also in double figures with 10 points.

How It Happened...

Northwestern led for most of the first half and held the largest advantage for either team, 33-21, following a basket by Mading Thok with five minutes left in the opening half. 

Dakota Wesleyan stormed back with a 14-2 run and tied the game at 35 after five straight points scored by Jason Spicer

A free throw by Thok put NWC in front, 36-35, at the break

Neither team grabbed the momentum early in the second half; a 7-0 Northwestern run, capped by a Colton Kooima three-pointer, put the visitors on top 62-55 at the 10-minute mark

Nate Davis scored on a putback to complete a 12-4 DWU run, giving the hosts back the lead 67-66 with 4:17 on the clock

Northwestern grabbed its final lead (71-70) moments later on a lay-up by Wedel but the Red Raiders scored just one more field goal, a late basket by Francis, as DWU closed the game with a 13-6 run to earn the win.

By the Numbers...

Northwestern shot 37% for the game compared to 45% for the host Tigers; DWU made 7-of-17 three-pointers (41%)

Both teams shot well from the free throw line; NWC-20/25 (80%); DWU 16/21 (76%)

Northwestern continued its dominance on the boards, holding a 48-33 edge on the glass; the Red Raiders pulled down 12 on the offensive side compared to just four on the DWU side

Turnovers were a non-factor; NWC with nine and DWU totaled eight

Kooima scored in double figures for the 26th time this season; Wedel in 18 games; Baker in 12 and Francis with his 11th double-figures game

Baker registered his second double-double of the season, 24th for his career

The Red Raider bench outscored DWU 32-0

Northwestern has dropped four straight against DWU in Mitchell, last winning on the road in 2012-13

DWU was led by Jason Spicer with a game-high 27 points; 25 for Ty Hoglund

Milestone Watch...

Kooima moved past Tony Krogman (1987-91) into 14th place all-time with 1,633 career points; Kooima also moved past Ben Gerleman (1998-2001) into 24th place with 232 career assists

Baker moved into 22nd place in career scoring with 1,369 points, passing Zach Leeper (2011-14) who scored 1,366

Wedel moved past Todd Meerdink (1981-85) into 38th place in career scoring with 1,137 points