Orange City, Iowa -- The (RV) Friends University held off the Dordt University Defenders for an 82-79 victory on the first day of the Northwestern/Pizza Ranch Classic today (Nov. 6) in Orange City, Iowa.
The Falcons twice led by as much as 20 in the second half, starting with a three by
Jackson Swartz that made it 70-50 and then another trey from
Brody Kreutzer that created a 73-53 lead with 7:10 left in in the game. After trailing by two at the half, the Falcons created separation in the second half by shooting 8 of 13 from 3-point range.
Dordt then began to chip away, finding its way to the free throw line and making 10 free throws as part of a 22-5 run that cut the Falcon lead to just a single possession on a three-point play by Brayden Beckering with 50 seconds left.
Kreutzer and
Will Mays then each hit two big free throws to keep the Falcons on top, but the Defenders hung around and a had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds, but a three by Connor Millikan was off the mark as time expired.
The Falcons built a 28-15 first-half lead when
Owen Evans hit a 3-pointer off
KJ Kelley's assist with 8:14 left, its fifth trey of the half. The Defenders pushed back and scored the next 16 points to take a three-point lead. After
Trey Knight scored to halt the spurt, Beckering's 3-pointer pushed the Dordt lead to 34-30 until Swartz scored at the buzzer for Friends to cut the deficit to 34-32 at the break.
The Falcons paired 13-of-27 shooting from 3-point range with a 39-31 rebounding advantage, including 13 offensive boards. The Defenders shot 48.0% overall and went 24 of 31 at the free-throw line, while the Falcons finished with 23 points off turnovers compared with 14 for Dordt and got 36 points from its bench.
Friends, now 2-2 on the season, will wrap up action at the Northwestern/Pizza Ranch Classic tomorrow (Nov. 7) with a matchup at tourney host (RV) Northwestern (Iowa) College at 4 pm.
Friends Top Performers
Jackson Swartz
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- 20 points (Career-high)
- 7/9 field goals
- 4/4 3-pointers
- 4 steals
Eli Benning
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- 11 assists (Career-high)
- 3 steals
- 8 points
Brody Kreutzer
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- 11 points
- 3/3 3-pointers
- 4 rebounds
Isaac Jones
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- 11 points
- 6/8 free throws
- 1 steal
Jordan Edwards
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- 7 rebounds
- 2 blocks
- 6 points
Dordt Top Performers
Connor Millikan
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- 21 points
- 7 assists
- 5 steals
- 7/10 free throws made
Brayden Beckering
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- 15 points
- 8/10 free throws made
- 5 rebounds
Judson Henkel
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- 14 points
- 6/9 field goals made
- 5 rebounds
Landon De Stigter
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- 12 points
- 2/6 3-pointers made
- 4/6 free throws made
Steven Poulicek
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- 4 steals
- 7 points
- 1 block
