Conference Champs! Prairie Wolves Win 4th Straight

Conference Champs! Prairie Wolves Win 4th Straight Regular Season Title

DECORAH, Iowa – A 3-point party turned into a trophy presentation party for the 7th-ranked Prairie Wolves as the Nebraska Wesleyan men’s basketball team won its 4th straight regular season conference championship with a 95-65 victory at Luther College on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 8) in Decorah, Iowa.

NWU wins its 20th game of the season, its 10th straight of the year and 19th straight regular season conference game with the big win on Saturday.

The Prairie Wolves hit a season-high 19 3-pointers, shooting 55.9 percent from beyond the arc as a team. NWU led by 12 points at halftime (44-32) then outscored the Norse by 18 points in the second half hitting 11-20 on 3-pointers in the 2nd half.

Clay Reimers and Nate Bahe were both a perfect 5-5 on 3-pointers and were two of three Prairie Wolves that scored over 20 points.

Luther hung right with NWU in the 1st half and trailed only by four points at 36-32 with 2:15 left in the first half. NWU ended the half on a 8-0 run to lead 44-32 at the break.

To start the second half the Prairie Wolves nailed four of their first six 3-pointers to extend the lead to over 20 points and they would keep adding to that total as the half continued. NWU was 11-16 from 3-point land in the second half before reserves came in and missed four attempts to end the game.

The Prairie Wolves dominance of the conference continues to mount up with four conference titles in four years and NWU has won 33 of their last 34 regular season games.

Clay Reimers led NWU with a double-double and a very efficient offensive performance. Reimers had 25 points and 11 rebounds, missing one total shot. He was 9-10 from the field and 5-5 on 3-point shooting.

Nate Bahe scored a season-high 21 points also making 5-5 on 3-pointers and 8-10 from the floor. Nate Schimonitz scored 23 points with seven assists. Schimonitz went over the 1,900 career point mark with his performance.

As a team, the Prairie Wolves shot 52.3 percent as a team and held a +20 advantage in rebounding.

Luther was led by Gage Thompson and Garrian Wade who both had 11 points.

The Prairie Wolves now have a week off before returning home to host Central College next Saturday in a game that can be heard on KFOR and kfornow.com. The NWU women’s basketball team lost to Luther 102-76.