Prairie Wolves Stay Perfect In Conference Play with 80-66 Win

Credit nwusports.com

LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan, the 10th-ranked team in NCAA III men’s basketball, stayed unbeaten in American Rivers Conference play with an 80-66 victory over Luther College Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11) at Snyder Arena.
NWU (13-2, 6-0 A-R-C) shot 51.7 percent from the field and withstood Luther’s hot shooting from 3-point range to earn their sixth conference win.

The Norse (5-9, 1-4) were 14-32 from 3-point range with all but nine of their made field goals coming from behind the arc.  Luther hit five 3-pointers in the first half, then nailed nine in the second half to keep the game close.

The Prairie Wolves were just 7-25 from 3-point land, but went 23-33 on two point field goals making nearly 70 percent inside the arc.

Inside the paint, the Prairie Wolves outscored the Norse 42-10 and held a 36-23 advantage on the glass.

To start the second half, the Prairie Wolves used a 9-0 run to get up by 17 points.  Luther wouldn’t go away and cut the lead to seven points at 64-57 with 4:13 left to play.

Jack Hiller nailed a 3-pointer the next time down, then found Clay Reimers on a fast break layup to get NWU back ahead by 12 points that would seal the win.

Three different players scored more than 18 points for the Prairie Wolves who played only eight guys on the day.

Nate Schimonitz led the way with 22 points and eight assists.  Clay Reimers and Jack Hiller both scored 18 points.  Reimers had eight rebounds and four assists, while Hiller was 4-9 on 3-pointers and had six rebounds.  Nate Bahe also had eight rebounds to go along with his seven points on 3-3 shooting.

Aaron Blumberg, Zach Randolph and Garrian Wade each scored 12 points for Luther.

NWU will close out a three-game homestand Wednesday night, hosting Coe College in a 7:30pm game that can be heard on KFOR & kfornow.com. In the women’s game Saturday it was Luther 96 NWU 63