Northwestern overcame an off-shooting night with stellar defensive play to earn an 80-77 overtime win over No.15 Dakota Wesleyan in a conference match-up played tonight at the Bultman Center. 

The Red Raiders pushed their season-high win streak to five games, improving to 7-4 in the conference, 13-8 overall. They avenged an earlier loss to DWU, who drops to 8-5 in the conference, 14-6 overall. 

A pair of free throws by Parker Mulder with 1:57 left to play in the overtime put Northwestern up for good and began a 9-2 run to give head coach Kris Korver's squad control. Free throws by Trent Hilbrands, Isaac Heyer and a lay-up by Chris Borchers over the next minute sealed the win for the Red Raiders and pushed their lead to seven (80-73).

Craig Sterk led Northwestern with 17 points coming off the bench, 15 coming in the first half. Parker Mulder scored 16, going 7-for-11 from the field, and both Jay Small (13pts) and Hilbrands (11pts) were also in double figures. Northwestern shot 44% for the game despite shooting a season-low 15% from beyond the arc, making only 4-of-26 attempts, also a season-low. 

Defensively, Northwestern held one of the top perimeter shooting teams in check, limiting DWU to just 16% from the three-point line. The Tigers shot 39% for the game and made a season-low six three-pointers. 

Northwestern overcame a rough start, falling behind 8-0 in the opening minute, before a 15-6 run capped by a Hilbrands jumper put the hosts in front 15-14. Neither team took control as the lead switched hands nine more times during the final 12 minutes of the opening period, a half that ended with a 40-39 DWU lead. 

Mulder scored six points to spark a 12-2 Northwestern run at the onset of the second half for a 51-42 lead at the 15-minute mark. Five straight points by Christian Korver and a jumper by Small pushed the Red Raider lead to 14 (60-46), their largest of the game, with 10:50 left to go. With Northwestern still up nine (66-57), Dakota Wesleyan outscored the hosts 12-3 over the final three-plus minutes to send the game into overtime (69-69). The Tigers scored the final six points on a three-pointer by Sam McCloud and conventional three-point play by Ty Hoglund. 

Hoglund scored the first points of the overtime period, giving DWU its only lead, before a basket by Steven Kragt and free throws by Mulder put Northwestern in front for good.

Northwestern held a 48-40 edge on the boards, led by Kragt and Hilbrands with seven rebounds each. 

Hoglund led all players with 27 points and Nick Harden scored 20, going 9-for-21 from the field.