LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan scored a season-high 121 points to improve to 4-0 with a 121-93 victory over Blackburn College on day one of the 28
th Annual Snyder Classic on Friday night (Nov. 25) at Snyder Arena in Lincoln.
The Prairie Wolves topped the highest point total in the Coach
Dale Wellman era with their 121 points on Friday as they have now scored over 100 points in all four games this season.
NWU (4-0) did most of their damage once again with the relentless full court pressure defense forcing Blackburn into 29 turnovers, recording 19 steals. The Prairie Wolves scored 33 points off the turnovers and had 45 fast break points.
Unlike last year with the top 3-point shooting, the Prairie Wolves made only 3-16 from deep in the first half and relied on fast break layups instead. NWU led 65-48 at halftime, but it could have been much worse as they missed point blank shots and made only 45.8 percent from the floor.
Blackburn was within six points with just over four minutes to play in the half, but the prairie Wolves went on a 17-6 run to close out the half.
Nebraska Wesleyan came out firing to start the second, with a quick 9-4 run in the first 2:21 to get up by 24 points. They kept up the big lead and got ahead by as many as 33 points in the second half before reserves played out the game.
Sophomore
Cooper Cook set a new career-high with 29 points to pace the Prairie Wolves who had six players reach double figures. Cook was 12-21 from the floor and 2-8 from 3-point range, while also pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.
Ryan Garver came off the bench to score 17 points to go along with seven assists and four steals. Garver was 7-9 from the floor and also had three rebounds.
Nate Schimonitz scored 16 points and dished out a team-high eight assists in 20 minutes of action making 7-10 from the floor.
Jack Hiller scored 13 points,
Blake Ruiz scored 12 and
Deion Wells-Ross added 11 off the bench.
Blackburn (2-3) had three players in double figures led by Chris Davis with 17 points.
The Prairie Wolves will take on Westminster College on Saturday at 7 pm on day two of the Snyder Classic.
