11th-ranked Northwestern used a late surge to get past Midland 100-94 in a GPAC match-up played this afternoon in Fremont, Neb. Northwestern earned its seventh straight win and improved to 6-2 in the GPAC, 16-2 overall while Midland slips to 3-6 in conference play, 10-8 overall.
Trailing by one (87-86) with 2:40 left to play, a pair of free throws by
Parker Mulder started a 10-2 Northwestern run to that put the Red Raiders in front for good 96-89. Following Mulder's free throws,
Nathan Wedel scored on a lay-up off a steal and both
Riley Francis and
Derek Buysse knocked down three-pointers to complete the run. In total, Northwestern outscored Midland 14-7 over the final 2:40 and made its final four field goal attempts while converting all six free throw tries.
Wedel led Northwestern with 28 points and dished out a career-high nine assists to go with six rebounds. It was Wedel's eighth 20+-point game of the season. Mulder followed with a career-best 23 points and nine rebounds, going 8-for-11 from the field including four three-pointers. Francis (15),
Chris Borchers (14) and Buysse (13) were also in double figures for NWC.
Five ties and seven lead changes highlighted a back-and-forth first half that resulted in a 47-42 Midland lead. Both teams went on substantial runs as a 10-2 spurt put the Warriors up 31-25 only to have Northwestern answer back with a 10-3 run, finished off with a
Christian Korver three-pointer, to put the Red Raiders in front 42-40. Midland scored the final seven points, however, and held the lead heading to the locker room.
Midland opened up its largest advantage (68-57) following an 11-3 run early in the second half and the Warriors held onto their advantage over the next five minutes. Down by six, Francis drained his fourth three-pointer of the game and started a 15-2 run that put Northwestern on top 81-74 following a lay-up by Mulder. Midland came back with one final surge, outscoring NWC 13-5 to go back up by one (87-86), setting up the final 2:40 of play.
Northwestern shot 51% for the game, 44% (15/34) from beyond the arc and 94% from the free throw line. They held the edge in rebounding, 38-32, and committed just seven turnovers.
Ryan Williams poured in a game-high 37 points as both he and Reggie Gradwell knocked down five three-pointers. Williams also pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Midland.
