Derek Buysse poured in a career-high 31 points in leading No. 20 Northwestern to a 97-62 win over Mount Marty in a GPAC match-up played tonight at the Bultman Center. 

Northwestern improves to 12-4 in the GPAC and moves into a first place tie with Dakota Wesleyan with two games left in the regular season. The Red Raiders are 22-5 overall. 

Buysse drained four three-pointers and made 10-of-15 field goal attempts en route to his career-best night. The junior also pulled down eight rebounds. Colton Kooima netted 17 and Justin Van Kalsbeek scored 12, giving the Red Raiders three players in double figures.

How It Happened...

Up 28-22, Northwestern scored eight consecutive points and closed the first half with a 13-2 run to take a 41-24 lead into halftime. Buysse netted 11 straight during the surge while the Red Raiders limited Mount Marty to just one field goal over the final five-plus minutes.

Northwestern quickly pushed the lead to 20 in the second half and led by as many as 42 over the final 20 minutes. The Red Raiders shot nearly 70% and outscored MMC 56-38 in the second half.

By the Numbers...

Northwestern shot 54% for the game, 39% (9/23) from the three-point line; Mount Marty shot 33% from the field and 26% (9/35) from beyond the arc.

The Red Raiders dominated the boards, 50-28; marks the eighth straight game that NWC has outrebounded its opponent.

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Kooima made a pair of three-pointers, giving him 201 for his career; Kooima is the seventh NWC player with at least 200 career three-pointers.

Kooima moved past Kent McDonough (1980-84) and into 16th place all-time with 1,573 points; Kooima also moved into a tie for 25th place with Doug Brunsting for career assists (228).

Buysse, Jordan Baker and Riley Francis all pulled down eight rebounds