Men's Basketball Upsets Northwestern to Qualify for GPAC Tournament
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College men’s basketball team knew what it needed to do in order to qualify for the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament and that was win and you’re in. The only thing is Northwestern stood in their way as the last time the Broncos defeated the Raiders was back in December of 2018. But Hastings came out and defeated Northwestern 69-64 to qualify for the GPAC tournament.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
34 | 30 | 64 |
|
|
32 | 37 | 69 |
Team Stats
Northwestern
| Game Statistics | Northwestern | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (23-55) | (27-55) |
| Field Goal % | 41.8% | 49.1% |
| Rebounds | 26 | 42 |
| Assists | 13 | 18 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 10 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 5 | 12 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 3 | 6 |
| Pts in the Paint | 18 | 32 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 3 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 8 | 8 |
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College men's basketball team knew what it needed to do in order to qualify for the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament and that was win and you're in. The only thing is Northwestern stood in their way as the last time the Broncos defeated the Raiders was back in December of 2018. But Hastings came out and defeated Northwestern 69-64 to qualify for the GPAC tournament.
The Broncos were also without Danilo Matovic as things looked a bit bleak in pregame but once the game started, it was game on from the get go as the Raiders held a slim 34-32 lead at halftime.
The Raiders would hold a slim 49-48 lead when Reggie Thomas calmly buried a three to go up 51-49. Northwestern came back with a free throw but Grady Corrigan would make two of his own as the Broncos held a 53-50 lead with 10:00 to go.
Zach Rust then picked up a key steal that led to two free throws for Thomas as the lead grew to five. Phil Cisrow battled all afternoon as he pulled down another rebound and at the other end, Thomas got to the rack for another layup as Northwestern called a timeout trailing 57-50 with 8:04 to go.
The Raiders fought there way back eventually tying the game 61-61 on a Matt Onken layup. After the Broncos came up empty on the ensuing possession, Cisrow battled hard for another rebound and eventually Thomas found Evan Kingston for the midrange jumper and the 63-61 lead with 2:29 to go. Craig Sterk had a chance to tie the game but only made one of his free throws as HC led 63-62 and had the ball.
Thomas went iso and got to the rim for the layup for the 65-62 lead with :44 to go. Northwestern decided to go for three but Dillon Carlson came up short and Cisrow pulled down another key rebound. The Raiders had fouls to give and eventually they fouled Rust and he went to the line for the bonus. He calmly knocked both free throws down as the Broncos led 67-62 with :22 to play.
On the other end Rust fouled Carlson as he made both of his free throws with just :11 to play. Rust got the ball again and would get fouled. Once again he hit nothing but nylon to make it 69-64 and when Onken's three missed the mark, the Broncos celebrated as they did what needed to be done to qualify for the post season.
Thomas led the way for Hastings with 22 points but 16 of those came in the second half. He finished the game shooting 8-for-17 while hitting 3-for-6 from downtown and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe while pulling down six boards and dishing out six assists. Cisrow finished with his third double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
Corrigan finished with 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting while Hayden Grint finished with his first career double-double while scoring 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting while pulling down 11 rebounds. Rust scored just four points but all four came at the line down the stretch to seal the win.
The Broncos finished the game shooting 49.1 percent (27-for-55) while the Raiders shot 42.6 percent (23-for-54). The rebounding edge went to Hastings at 42-to-26.
Hastings improves to 15-13 (8-12) on the year and will be back in action Wednesday Feb. 22 hitting the road to take on Jamestown with tipoff set for 6:00 pm in Jamestown, ND. This win also secures a winning season for the first time since 2018-19.
