March 10, 2007

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - #11 Northwestern (Iowa) knocked off defending national champion College of the Ozarks (Mo.), 73-57, in the quarterfinal round of the 16th Annual NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. With the win, the Red Raiders advance to their fourth Final Four since 2001. The 2007 event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

The defending champions started out fast, scoring the five points of the game. Northwestern, however, went on a 10-0 run and grabbed their first lead. They later built up the lead to seven, 39-32, before College of the Ozarks scored the final six points to go into the locker room trailing by one. The momentum continued to swing in the Bobcats favor early in the second period as they went up by five with 14 minutes left to play. The Red Raiders scored 12 straight points, all on three pointers, to take the lead for good at the 11:17 mark. College of the Ozarks could not get closer than six the rest of the way as the Bobcats were held to just 18 points in the second half.

Northwestern shot 51% from the floor, marking the third straight game the Red Raiders have shot over 50%. They dominated the glass as they had 48 total rebounds compared to just 20 by the Bobcats. Kale Wiertzema led Northwestern in scoring with 17 points. Chad Schuiteman recorded his third straight double-double and 21st of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds. The junior had 13 points in the first half. Freshman Ben Brown provided a scoring punch off the bench with 11 points, all in the second half. He keyed a 12-0 run with a trio of three point baskets midway through the second period.

College of the Ozarks was led by junior guard Daniel Bandy who scored 18 points, 11 in the opening half. Chris Pullen added 17 and freshman Scott McElvain put in 12 points off the bench. Michael Bonaparte, who came into the game averaging 24 points, was held to just three. The Bobcats shot just 27% from the floor in the second half. The senior All-American dished out a team-high four assists. The Bobcats end their season at 22-11.

Northwestern moves on to play the highest seed left in the tournament, #2 MidAmerica Nazarene, in a Final Four matchup on Monday, March 12 at 8:00 pm.The Red Raiders advance with a 26-8 overall mark. The 32-team, single elimination tournament concludes Tuesday, March 13, with the championship game to tip-off at 8:30 pm.