March 17, 2008

Point Lookout, Mo. - Top-seeded Bellevue (Neb.) defeated #5 Northwestern (Iowa) 70-67 in the first game of the Final Four and will advance to their second ever championship game. The 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship is being played at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.). 

 Northwestern led 7-5 before a 6-0 Bellevue run put the Bruins up 11-7. Five straight Red Raider points put NWC back up by one, sparked by a Ben Brown three pointer. The game remained tight the rest of the half but the Bruins were able to open their biggest lead of the game at halftime, 34-26.

A 5-2 run to start the second half put Bellevue up 10, 38-28, the biggest lead for either team. Northwestern responded with a 10-2 run to cut the lead down to two with 15 minutes left. The Red Raiders tied the game at 42 but Bellevue quickly pulled ahead again, 51-46 behind baskets by senior forward Klaye Rowe. The Bruins opened up a seven point lead only to have Northwestern battle back and after a driving lay-up by Red Raider guard Kale Wiertzema, the lead was down to one 62-61 with 1:30 left to play. Bellevue forward John Gray converted a three point play to put his team back up by five. Northwestern responded right back with a three point play by Chad Schuiteman and trailed by two, 66-64. Behind four, Wiertzema nailed a three pointer to cut it to one, 68-67 with 3.7 seconds to go. Two free throws by John Gray put the Bruins up three and Northwestern missed a game-tying three pointer as time expired to send Bellevue into the championship.

Belleuve shot 54% for the game, 59% in the second half. Senior John Gray led all scorers with 22 points. Hannibal Cofield added 14 while Klaye Rowe netted 12. The Bruins forced 12 first half turnovers and held Northwestern to just 39% from the field.

Northwestern was led by Kale Wiertzema with 19 points. Chad Schuiteman closed his career with 17 points and nine rebounds. In doing so, Schuiteman became the tournament's all-time leading rebounder with 134, breaking the old record of 130 set by Emiko Etete (Northwest Nazarene) set during the 1992-95 seasons. Seniors Curt Schilling and Mark DeYounge closed out their careers with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Red Raiders, making their tournament best sixth Final Four appearance, end their season with a 30-5 record.
 
Bellevue advances to the title game with a 33-3 record. They will play the winner of #2 MidAmerica Nazarene/#11 Oregon Tech in the championship game tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. The 32-team, single-elimination tournament concludes on Tuesday, March 18.