On Saturday Nov. 7, the Viterbo V-hawks traveled to Orange City, Iowa, to kick-off their season at the Northwestern College Classic. In the second game of the tournament, the V-hawks played Dordt Unversity. The first half of the game was a back-and-forth exchange with both teams. The biggest lead of the first half was six, which was held by Dordt. The half-time score was 35 to 39 in favor of Dordt. The first half showed the V-hawks shoot 2 of 11 from three-point range and 13 of 34 from the field. Despite the struggles from the field, the V-hawks were able to shoot 7 of 9 from the free-throw line. The V-hawks were able to force Dordt into six turnovers and force them to commit seven personal fouls to keep the game close. Sophomore Jack Monis led the V-hawks in scoring with 16 in the first half.
The second half saw Dordt go on a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 12 points. The V-hawks clawed their way back from the deficit to shrink the lead to just two points late in the second half. The V-hawks would go on to score only four points in the last five minutes of the game. The V-hawks struggles from the field continued into the second half as they shot 13 of 30 from the field. They went 3 of 11 from behind the arc in the second half. The real back-breaker for the V-hawks seemed to be the nine turnovers they committed. The V-hawks also committed 15 fouls, sending the other team to the free throw line 22 times. The V-hawks were outscored off the bench 18-9 in the game as well and were defeated 77-67 to drop their record to 0-2.
The V-hawks were led by Jack Monis and junior Robert Cunitz who both had 16 points each. Junior Brady Polk threw in 12 points to go along with the 32 points Monis and Cunitz put up. The V-hawks look to regain traction on November 11th as they face off against Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee at 6:00 p.m.
