RV TIGERS EARN FOURTH STRAIGHT VICTORY SATURDAY

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The RV Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball welcomed the RedHawks of IU-Northwest to McHie Arena on Saturday afternoon.  The Tigers avenged an early season loss to the RedHawks winning 94-85.

The RedHawks gained the upper hand at the beginning of the game giving all the Tigers can handle.  They led 11-5 early in the first half.  The Tigers chipped away at that deficit as Alex Gross scored the next six points tying the game at 11.  The Tigers then took their first lead of the game after Tyler Schmidt buried a three and Barik Olden made a layup making the score, 16-14. After the RedHawks made a jumper, Cade Chitty knocked down a three, while Gross and Caleb Swearingen both contributed points.  The Tigers jumped out to a 22-18 lead. 

After IU-Northwest got within three at 24-21, Schmidt, Griffin Andricks, and Landon Pflederer combined for the next seven points for the Tigers as they led 31-24.  The two teams saw three ties within the next couple minutes and the RedHawks, eventually, grabbed a 41-40 lead with four-and-a-half minutes left in the first.   At 41-40, Andricks put on a show and hit the next five points, followed by, Plfederer hitting a pair of free throws as the Tigers retook the lead at 47-41.  The Tigers only allowed two more RedHawk points in the half and pulled ahead 55-43 at the break. 

Halftime: RV Olivet Nazarene 55, IU-Northwest 43

The Tigers started the second half on a 7-2 run, highlighted by an and-on opportunity by Chitty.  ONU led 62-45.  At 69-54, the RedHawks started to chip into their deficit and went on a 13-2 run as they shrunk the Tiger lead to 71-67.  The RedHawks kept hanging around in the game as they cut the deficit to four at 84-80 but the Tigers saw timely layups by Schmidt, Chitty and Gross to extend the lead back to eight at 88-80 with two minutes to go. 

The Tigers hit six of their last seven from the charity strike as ONU defeated IU-Northwest, 94-85. 

GAME VITALS

Final: RV Olivet Nazarene 94, IU-Northwest 85

Records: RV Olivet Nazarene: 16-3 (10-1 CCAC) | IU-Northwest: 12-6 (6-5 CCAC)

Location: McHie Arena | Olivet Nazarene University | Bourbonnais, Ill.

QUICK HITS

• Schmidt led all Tiger scorers with 25 points going 10-for-12 from the field. 
• Gross followed with his 15th double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds. 
• Gross broke into the top five all-time in career rebounds with 979 career boards.  
• Pflederer and Andricks followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively. 
• Pflederer led the Tigers with eight assists and he played all 40 minutes of the game. 
• The Tigers outscored the RedHawks in the paint, 52-24. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Tigers travel to Chicago as they take on the Lakers of Roosevelt University on Wednesday, January 19th.  Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Goodman Center.  Spectators must show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination card and show ID prior to entering the facility per Roosevelt University guidelines.  Please visit This link to learn more about Roosevelt's spectator policy. 

--ONU—

*Contact: Sam Viebrock, Sports Information Director, stviebrock@olivet.edu