Red Raiders Big Second Half Bests V-Hawks

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Viterbo University Men's Basketball team dropped their first match of the Northwestern College (Iowa) Pizza Ranch Classic to host Northwestern, 46-78, on Friday night. The V-Hawks fall to 4-2 on the year, while the Red Raiders improve to 3-0.

Northwestern scored the first two baskets of the game, but Viterbo responded with a 12-0 run with four points from both Jack Monis and Ben Olson. Dillon Carlson ended the run at 12:34 with a pair of free throws, and back-to-back NWC threes tied the match at 14-14. The Red Raiders earned multiple trips to the line to take the lead, and while Colin Adams converted a pair of layups late, Northwestern took a 28-24 lead into halftime.

NWC scored the first six points out of the half, and after a Dakota Mannel layup, they kept the pressure on with a three. Monis' jumper at 14:56 made it 43-30, but they continued to pull away, building the lead to 55-36 at 8:53. A Monis free throw ended a 12- run, and Stefan Popovic nailed a triple at 2:45. Charlie Hansen and Lydell King each added their own three pointers late to bring the final score to 78-46.

Monis scored a team-high 15 points, Nick Malovrh grabbed eight rebounds, and Mannel dished four assists for the V-Hawks. Alex Van Kalsbeek posted a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds

Northwestern outshot Viterbo 43.3% - 33.9% from the floor and 32.1% - 17.6% from three. The also grabbed 12 more rebounds, 50-38. But turnover made the difference, as Viterbo committed 15 to NWC's 7, and the Red Raiders score 25 points off those TO's.

Viterbo returns to action on Saturdays, November 11 against Dordt University (Iowa) in the second game of the Northwestern College (Iowa) Pizza Ranch Classic.