Northwood Makes History With First Ever Final Four Visit
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The #2 ranked Northwood University Seahawks (33-3) made program history tonight by winning their first NAIA Division II National Tournament Quarterfinals game 83-59 against #7 Oklahoma Wesleyan.
The Seahawks improve their national tournament record to 6-4 over the course of their five visits to Branson since the program’s inception.
OWU played hardnosed defensive in the first 8 minutes of the game and had a 10-12 lead over the blue and white. The lead exchanged hands twice during the next minute plus until sophomore Thierno Agne drilled a 3-point shot to put the Seahawks ahead by 3.
Northwood went on a 20-8 tear to close out the second half ahead 37-25. Melvin Calhoun and Agne had matching numbers in the first half, scoring 9 apiece. The tandem went 3-4 from the floor, all of which were 3-pointers. As a team, NU fired 52.4% from the floor and 57.1% from behind the arch in the first 20.
The Owls came out of the locker room fired up and would go on a 3-11 run to close the gap to within 4. Patrick Horstmann changed the momentum with a huge slam dunk in the 15th minute, putting Northwood ahead by 8. The Seahawks locked the game up after that, and polished off the Owls by 24.
Jonathan Dunn led all scorers with 20 points. Horstmann fell just short of another tournament double-double performance, tabbing 13 points and 9 rebounds. Noah Keeton also had 13 on the night.
Agne continued having a phenomenal game on both ends of the ball. He tallied 15 on the night but more impressively shut down a potential NAIA Player of the Year candidate in the Owls Sadiel Rojas. Rojas managed a meager 9 points, down from his average of 23.8 per game.
The Seahawks will have tomorrow off and resume play in the Final Four on Monday as they take on #3 Cornerstone. That game is set for 8 pm CST.