ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Craig Sterk converted a go-ahead turn-around 12-foot jump hook with 33 seconds left, lifting No. 13-ranked Northwestern College to a come-from-behind 72-71 victory over Oregon Tech in the second-round of the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.
 
The Red Raiders (25-7) rallied from a 12-point second half deficit and withstood a pair of game-winning chances from the Hustlin' Owls in the waning moments. NWC advances to the third-round of the tournament on Thursday and a date with top-seed and No. 1-ranked Grace College.
 
The Hustlin' Owls (27-6) silenced a raucous crowd in the second half – as Keegan Shivers hit a pair of 3-pointers, with Jay Elmore and Erik Fraser adding triples of their own – part of a 14-4 run that gave Tech a 63-51 lead with just over eight minutes to play.
 
NWC turned up the defensive pressure – forcing consecutive turnovers leading to back-to-back Conner Geddes triples – cutting the Owls lead in half.
 
Tech led 71-65 with three minutes to play, but 2-time All-American Alex Van Kalsbeek scored twice on the block and Zach LaFave made 1-of-2 free throws to pull NWC within a point. Following a defensive stop and a timeout, the Red Raiders found Sterk curling off a screen in the block, converting the one-hand runner to give the hosts their first lead since the opening bucket of the second half.
 
OIT tried to answer – but a corner 3-pointer from Shivers rattled out with 11 seconds left and following a pair of missed free throws from Sterk, Jamison Guerra missed a 12-foot jumper in the lane as time expired.
 
 The two NAIA juggernauts traded body blows in the first half, combining for eight ties and six lead changes – with neither team leading by more than five points.
 
Van Kalsbeek led all players with 26 points and seven rebounds, with Sterk adding 15 points and six boards. The Red Raiders finished 5-of-21 from 3-point range and won despite behind outrebounded, 41-34
 
Fraser led OIT with 20 points, Kam Osborn scored 13, with Guerra posting 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists – becoming the 38th OIT player to reach 1,000-point mark for his career with a lay-up midway through the second half.
 
The loss ends a remarkable run for the Hustlin' Owls – with OIT's six losses on the season all to teams advancing to the Round of 16 in Kansas City (College of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State, Grace, Northwestern).
 
Senior Kody Bauman saw his collegiate career ended with the loss, finishing with four points and three rebounds – converting 60.5% of his field goals as a Hustlin' Owl.