The Northwestern College men's basketball team was unable to hold a lead late, falling to Dakota Wesleyan 82-76 in a conference match-up played tonight in Mitchell, S.D. 

The Raiders drop to 4-3 in the GPAC, 7-3 overall; DWU stays unbeaten in conference play, improving to 5-0, 7-1 overall.

Jay Small scored a game-high 28 points, also a season-high for the senior, and pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Raiders. With his second of three three-pointers, Small became the eighth player to make 200 three-pointers in program history. 

Tied 39-39 at halftime, Northwestern went ahead by as many as six early and led for the majority of the first 10 minutes of the second half. The game was tied again at 63 and a basket by Alex Van Kalsbeek put Northwestern in front for the final time, 66-65, with 6:21 left to go. DWU outscored the Raiders 8-2 over the next two minutes and 17-10 for the rest of the game to get the come-from-behind win.

Joining Small in double figures were both Van Kalsbeek (20pts) and Keegan Van Egdom (12pts). Head Coach Kris Korver's squad shot 51% for the game, 36% (8/22) from the three-point line, and made 12-of-16 free throw attempts. The Raiders were outebounded 29-27 and committed 10 turnovers compared to seven by DWU.

Northwestern rode the hot shooting hand of Small early, who scored 15 of his team's first 22 points,for its largest lead, 22-15, with 12:16 left in the first half. The host Tigers rallied and tied the game at half, 39-39.

Both Koln Oppold and Mason Larson scored 20 points each and Ace Zorr contributed 16 points coming off the bench for the Tigers. DWU shot 52% for the game and even 50% (9/18) from beyond the arc.