Lincoln, Nebraska-- The 2018 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Men's Basketball Tournament trophy will reside in Lincoln, Nebraska after No.1-seed Nebraska Wesleyan rallied to knockout sixth-seeded Central, 82-78. With tonight's tournament title, the Prairie Wolves will represent the IIAC in the 2018 NCAA Division III Tournament.
Now in their second year of the IIAC, Nebraska Wesleyan owns two regular season titles, a tournament championship and a NCAA automatic berth. NWU's road to the championship began with a first-round bye, earned through capturing the IIAC regular season title. The Prairie Wolves then defeated fifth-seeded Wartburg 94-77 in the semifinals.
Having been to the IIAC tournament title game four of the last five years, Central started the game off veteran fashion against a Prairie Wolf team that had lost just three games all season. The two high-powered teams would exchange the lead a handful of times before the 7:09 mark, when the score was knotted at 20 all. With 6:03 left in the first half Central would gain the lead and head into halftime up 38-35.
The Dutch came out hot in the second half, growing their lead to 18 at 63-45 with 10:49 to play. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Prairie Wolves cut Central's lead to 10 points at 65-55 with 8:15 to play. Central wasn't ready to relinquish the lead, answering NWU's surge with a three-pointer of their own and pushing their lead to 13 at 70-57 with 7:28 left.
Central's hot shooting would cool off dramatically in the final minutes. as the Dutch would not make another field goal for seven minutes and 12 seconds, when there were just 16 seconds left in the game. During that time, NWU used a 12-0 run to pull within one point. With 2:12 left in the game,
Jack Hiller hit a three-pointer to give NWU their first lead since the 8:11 mark of the first half, 76-74.
NWU's lead would stand at three, 77-80, with just nine seconds left. NWU would send Central to the free throw line but the Dutch would hit just one of two free throws, making it a two point advantage for NWU. Central then fouled
Ryan Garver, who sunk two free throws to put NWU up 82-78 with only seven seconds remaining. The free throws would prove enough to seal the victory for NWU.
For the game NWU made 26-60 from the field for a percentage of 42.3. From three-point they shot 36.0%, making 9-25. At the free throw line the Prairie Wolves sunk 87.5%, 21-24.With 31 points on the night,
Nate Schimonitz paced the Prairie Wolves. NWU's second leading scorer was Garver with 14, followed by
Nate Bahe with 13. NWU's season-leading rebounder,
Deion Wells-Ross, showed up to work again tonight, bringing down 10 boards. Schimonitz added seven rebounds while Garver grabbed six.
From the field Central shot 46.6%, making 27-58. The Dutch converted 32.3% of their three-point shots, going 10-31). At the line Central made 14-20 for a total game percentage of 70.0. Central's leading scorer was
Malik Wildermuth with 23 points.
Kyle Smith and
Andre Johnson each added 10 points.
Jamel McKnight was the team's leading rebounder with seven.
Caden Mauck and Wildermutch secured six rebounds a piece.
Nebraska Wesleyan will find out who their first-round opponent is on the NCAA's Selection Show, Monday, February 26 at 11:30 a.m. The selection show is available at
NCAA.com.
