Nebraska Wesleyan headed to Second Round of NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

3/6/2020 9:04:22 PM

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Nebraska Wesleyan men’s basketball team moves advances to the Second Round of the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. 

The Prairie Wolves (25-3) got all they could handle from the Webster Gorlocks (19-9), trailing 37-29 at the half. After shooting 36.67% from the field and just 7.14% from three-point range in the first half, NWU bounced back in the second half, going 64% from the field and 44.44% from deep. NWU's second half push would give them the edge down the stretch, winning the first round game 77-73. 

NWU had four players in double digit figures, led by Clay Reimers with 29 points. Reimers also grabbed seven rebounds and added six assists. Nate Bahe was the team's second leading scorer with 16 points, followed by Jack Hiller with 14 and Dylan Dirks with 12. Hiller led the Prairie Wolves in rebounds with eight. Bahe recorded a team-high eight assists while adding six rebounds.  

Seventh-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan will take on No. 16-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Bears tomorrow night. The Bears (21-5, 11-3 UAA), out of the University Athletic Association (UAA) earned an at-large bid to this year’s tournament to make their 22nd appearance in the big dance. The UAA is the only conference in NCAA Division III that does not hold a conference tournament, awarding the league's automatic qualifier to the regular season champion. Two of WasU's three conference losses came to UAA regular season champion, Emory University. 

Two-time national champions (2008, 2009) WashU, and 2018 national champion NWU tip-off from Snyder Arena at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7.

Lincoln, Neb. First / Second Round Schedule:
Friday, March 6 - First Round
Game 1: Washington University-St. Louis 102 vs. Bethany Lutheran 68
Game 2: Nebraska Wesleyan University 77, Webster University 73 - Box Score
 
Saturday, March 7 - Second Round
Game 3 - Washington University-St. Louis vs. Nebraska Wesleyan University @ 7:30 p.m.
 
(Top-25 Rank) Team Location Record  Conference
(NR) Bethany Lutheran Vikings Mankato, Minn. 21-7 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC)
(No.7) Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves Lincoln, Neb. 25-3 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C)
(No.16) Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Mo. 21-5 University Athletic Association (UAA)
(NR) Webster University St. Louis, Mo. 19-9 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC)
*Rankings and records as of 3.4.2020. 
*Top-25 rank from D3hoops.com
 
 
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