NWU's Successful Season Comes to Close in Second Round of NCAA III Tournament

LINCOLN, Neb. – The most successful senior class in Nebraska Wesleyan program history saw their illustrious careers come to an end on Saturday night (March 7) when the 7th-ranked Prairie Wolves fell to 16th-ranked Washington University-St. Louis 79-58 in the second round of the 2020 NCAA III Men’s Basketball Tournament at Snyder Arena.

Nebraska Wesleyan finishes the season 25-4 overall claiming its fourth straight conference regular season championship and making a third straight NCAA III Tournament. WashU moves to 22-5 a d advances to the Sweet 16 to meet North Central University next Saturday.

WashU was able to shut down the Prairie Wolves offense completely in the first half, holding NWU to single digits in scoring through the first 14 minutes of the half. The Bears led by as many as 31 points in the first half and took a 44-17 lead into the halftime break. The 17 first half points, were the fewest in a half by an NWU basketball team since Dec. 20, 2011.

Nothing went right for the Prairie Wolves in the half, shooting 7-26 from the field (26.9%) and 2-12 on 3-pointers (16.7%). Even a surprise entrance off the bench from senior guard Nate Schimonitz wasn’t enough a spark to get NWU on track. WashU buried seven 3-pointers in the opening half and had the comfortable lead at halftime.

In the 2nd half, Nebraska Wesleyan tried to make one last push in front of their home crowd. Less than five minutes into the half, the Prairie Wolves had cut the lead down to 17 points on a fast break 3-pointer from senior Jack Hiller. A pair of free throws by Clay Reimers on the next possession made it 50-35 with 14:38 left and the game was back on.

After scoring only 17 points in the first half, NWU scored 18 in the first 5:24 of the second half going on a 18-6 run. WashU finally got a 3-pointer to go to end the run, but Reimers converted a layup at the other end to make it a 16-point game.

From there, the Prairie Wolves would go over seven minutes without a made field goal allowing the Bears to get the lead back to 29 points. WashU used a 17-4 run during that time and put the game out of reach.

A special moment did occur as time was winding down. Senior Nate Schimonitz needed just one point to reach 2,000 for his career. With 1:21 left in the game, he was fouled and went to the line for two shots. Schimonitz calmly buried both shot then made a grand exit to a standing ovation from the Snyder Arena crowd. Schimonitz, a four-time 1st-Team All-Conference selection and the league MVP, ends his career with 2,001 points, one of only three Nebraska Wesleyan basketball players to accomplish that feat.

WashU finished the game with 14 made 3-pointers, compared to only five for the Prairie Wolves. The Bears shot 44.6 percent overall for the game. Justin Hardy led the way posting a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds with six assists. He was 4-5 on 3-point attempts. Jack Nolan scored 24 points and was 6-13 on his 3-point attempts.

Senior Cordell Gillingham, who started the past three games with Schimonitz injured, led the Prairie Wolves with 15 points in his final game. Jack Hiller also reached double figures with 11 points, while Clay Reimers had eight points and 12 rebounds. Nate Bahe ended with nine points and four assists, while Dylan Dirks had five points in his final game.

Schimonitz scored seven points in 18 minutes off the bench playing with his injury as well as he could. Austin Hall also scored one point for the Prairie Wolves in his final game.

Before the final buzzer sounded, Coach Dale Wellman, the four-time Conference Coach-of-the-Year, was able to sub out each of his eight seniors to allow the Prairie Wolves fans rise to their feet at Snyder Arena and honor them for an outstanding career.