NWU MEN’S BASKETBALL: Prairie Wolves Overcome Slow Start To Beat Central College
LINCOLN–(NWU Athletics Feb. 15)–Sixth-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan extended its winning streak to 11 games and remained unbeaten in American Rivers Conference play with a 91-70 victory over Central College on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 15) at Snyder Arena.
NWU moves to 21-2 overall and 14-0 in conference play having won 20 straight regular season conference games dating back to last season. The Prairie Wolves now have the second longest conference winning streak in NCAA III basketball.
It wasn’t easy on Saturday facing the last place team in the league standings. Central battled hard and led the first eight minutes of the game. The Dutch, who fall to 5-19 overall and 2-13 in league play, hit six first half 3-pointers to keep it close.
The Prairie Wolves used a 15-5 run to get ahead by double figures, then a string of three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the half gave NWU a 48-36 halftime advantage.
To start the second half, the Prairie Wolves came out fast and extended the lead to over 20 points just over four minutes into the half. A dunk by Clay Reimers gave the Prairie Wolves a 21-point lead with 16:29 left.
Reimers was dominant in the paint once again recording his second straight double-double. He finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds, making 8-13 from the field to go along with three assists, three blocks and two steals.
Four Prairie Wolves reached double figures in scoring despite shooting just 45.8 percent from the field. NWU was able to get 52 rebounds, including 16 offensive rebounds. They ended the game with 11 made 3-pointers with seven different players hitting from long range.
Connor Riekenberg came off the bench to bury two 3-pointers in the first half, then it was Peyton Priest turn in the second half hitting three straight to finish with nine points.
Leading scorer Nate Schimonitz scored 19 points and moved past Trey Bardsley for 3rd place on the NWU all-time scoring list. He added five assists and six rebounds. Nate Bahe scored 10 points with a team-high six assists and Cordell Gillingham came off the bench to score 10 points.
Central was led by Adam Flinn who scored 17 points. Flinn is second in the league in scoring and made five 3-pointers. He was the only Dutch player to reach double figures.
Nebraska Wesleyan now prepares for the final week of the regular season with a game at Simpson on Wednesday.
