OMAHA, Neb. -- Freshman
Cooper Cook came off the bench to knock down five 3-pointers and score 22 points to spark Nebraska Wesleyan University to a 104-98 victory at Grace University on Wednesday night in Omaha, Neb.
The victory marks the second straight game the Prairie Wolves have topped the 100 point mark as they improve to 2-1 on the season. Grace falls to 4-3 on the year.
NWU trailed 53-48 at halftime and were behind by as many as nine points in the first half. Just like the previous game, the Prairie Wolves put together a strong second half coming out of the locker room.
Cooper Cook hit a field goal followed by a 3-pointer from
Trevor Leiting at the 13:48 mark to put the Prairie Wolves up by five points at 62-57. The Prairie Wolves would not trail in the game again.
NWU built up a 13-point lead with less than three minutes remaining and seemed to be in control. Grace would not go away and mounted a big comeback. The Royals scored six consecutive points to cut the lead down to 98-92 with 1:37 remaining.
A three point play from the Royals cut the lead down to five points.Â
Trey Bardsley was able to convert four straight free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.
Bardlsey was the leading scorer for Nebraska Wesleyan with 27 points. He was 12-12 at the free throw line and hit three 3-pointers. Bardsley also dished out a team-high eight assists.Â
Three different NWU players scored over 20 points in the game. Giesselmann just missed his second straight double-double with 25 points and nine rebounds.Â
Cooper Cook was 5-9 from 3-point range and scored 22 points to go along with eight rebounds.Â
Keithan Karn also scored in double figures with 11 points.
Grace got a huge performance from Galat Toang who had a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds. The Royals were hurt at the free throw line as they converted 59.0 percent at the charity stripe going 23-39.
NWU will begin GPAC play on Saturday as they make their home debut at Snyder Arena by playing Dakota Wesleyan University at 4 pm.
