LINCOLN, Neb. -- For the first time in school history the Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team won a GPAC Postseason Tournament game as the Prairie Wolves knocked off Dordt College 111-98 in the GPAC Quarterfinals in front of a packed house at Snyder Arena.

NWU now advances to the GPAC Semifinals as they will host Dakota Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon.  The matchup between the two nationally-ranked teams will start at 3 pm in Snyder Arena.

Nebraska Wesleyan came out firing and fed off the energy of the crowd as they jumped ahead by 22 points halfway through the first half.  The Prairie Wolves led 33-11 with 10:45 to play in the first half before the Defenders knew what hit them.  Dordt cut the lead to 11 points later in the half, but Trey Bardsley drained a 30-footer at the halftime buzzer to give NWU a 61-45 lead at the break.

Just like the last time the teams met on Feb. 13, Dordt didn't back down and chipped away at the lead in the second half.  The Defenders cut the lead to six points with 11:45 to play as they trimmed it down to 75-69.  The lead remained at six points with just over 9:00 left when NWU made one last charge.

Cooper Cook drained a 3-pointer, Trey Bardsley got a fast break layup and Travis Giesselmann made a basket in the lane for a 7-0 run as NWU went back ahead 88-75 with under seven minutes to play.  The closest Dordt got the rest of the way was nine points as the Prairie Wolves sealed with win with made free throws and a pair of exclamation point dunks from Travis Giesselmann.

The victory is the eighth straight for NWU and moves them to 21-6 overall.

Bardsley had another huge night pouring in 44 points, his second highest scoring output of his career behind a pair of 48-point performances.  Bardsley was 13-22 from the floor and 5-11 on 3-point shooting.  He was a perfect 13-13 at the charity stripe.

NWU shot 13-43 from 3-point land in the game, after making only 1-30 their last time out.  The Prairie Wolves hit 45.9 percent from the field and were 30-36 at the free throw line.  Dordt shot 48 percent from the floor and held a 50-40 advantage on the glass.

Three other NWU players reached double figures in scoring.  Travis Giesselmann scored 14 points with nine rebounds and six assists.  Cooper Cook came off the bench for 13 points and Cole Klingsporn scored a career-high 11 points.

Dordt was led by Alec Henrickson who came off the bench to pour in 35 points.  Dalton Franken and Nathan Rindels both had double-doubles.

Nebraska Wesleyan now prepares to keep their historic streak alive in the semifinals as they brace for another shootout with last year's NAIA II National Runner-up Dakota Wesleyan.  DWU won 125-102 back in November at Snyder Arena, then NWU responded by upsetting the Tigers 107-97 on Feb. 6 at the Corn Palace.