11th-ranked Northwestern College earns a spot in Tuesday's GPAC Championship with a 77-63 win over Doane in a GPAC semifinal played this afternoon at the Bultman Center. The Red Raiders advance to the title game with a 25-5 overall record.Â
Nathan Wedel scored 25 points to lead Northwestern while both
Colton Kooima (21) and
Derek Buysse (16) were also in double figures.Â
After a quick start that led to a 9-2 Northwestern advantage, Doane outscored the hosts 16-4 over a seven-minute stretch to open up its largest lead, 18-13, with nine minutes to go in the first half. Back to back three-pointers by
Riley Francis and Buysse put Northwestern back in front briefly until Doane tied the game later (21-21) on a three-pointer by Rylee Zimmerman.Â
Northwestern followed with its best run of the first half, outscoring Doane 13-4 over the final six minutes to take a 34-25 lead into halftime. Defensively, the Red Raiders limited Doane to two field goals during thi stretch and Kooima scored the final six points during the last minute of the half.Â
Two free throws by Wedel finished off a 10-4 run as Northwestern extended its lead to 15 at the 16-minute mark. The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes until Doane made one final push, cutting the lead down to eight (58-50) on a three-point play by Quin Connor. Northwestern put the game away by scoring 10 of the next 12 points, getting a key three-pointer from Buysse and a basket by
Chris Borchers to put the hosts on top, 68-52, with five minutes left. Doane would not get closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Northwestern shot 40% for the game, 33% (9/27) from beyond the arc, and committed a season-low five turnovers. Both teams pulled down 38 rebounds; the Red Raiders were led by Kooima and Wedel with seven each.Â
Doane was led by Nick Kornieck with 27 points and Anthony Laravie scored 10. The Tigers close the year with a 14-18 overall record.Â
Northwestern returns to the GPAC Championship for the second straight year, defeating Briar Cliff 95-89 in last year's title game.
