LINCOLN, Neb. – Nate Schimonitz poured in a career-high 27 points to help lead the Prairie Wolves back into the victory column with an important 98-85 win over Wartburg College in IIAC men's basketball action Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21) at Snyder Arena.
 
Coming off a disappointing buzzer beating loss at home on Wednesday, the Prairie Wolves bounced back with a crucial victory fueling off the home crowd to even the season series with the Knights.
 
NWU and Wartburg went back and forth in the first half with 11 lead changes and 11 ties, the last tie coming at the break as the score was 43-43 at halftime.
 
The second half started the same with two more quick lead changes and ties, then NWU went on a quick spurt.  The Prairie Wolves got a 3-pointer from Jack Hiller, a layup by Dylan Dirks and a fast break layup from Schimonitz for an 8-0 run to put NWU ahead 58-50 is just over two minutes time.
 
Wartburg (12-5, 4-5 IIAC) battled back and pulled within one point, but each time they got close the Prairie Wolves went back ahead again.  Finally with 7:48 to play Nick Webber nailed a fast break 3-pointer to put the Knights back in front 73-71.
 
Just ten seconds later, Aaron Walker buried a deep 3-pointer to put the Prairie Wolves back in front and they would not trail again.  After a Wartburg free throw made the score 86-86 with 2:38 to play, NWU went on a 12-0 run to seal the win.  Wartburg didn't score again until a late 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining.
 
Freshman Nate Schimonitz continues to shine as he had his fourth straight 20-point outing and his 16^th straight double figures scoring performance.  On Saturday, Schimonitz had a career-high 27 points making 11-20 from the floor and 5-9 at the free throw line.  He also had a team-high eight rebounds to go along with three assists.
 
It was far from a one-man show for the Prairie Wolves as three other players scored in double figures.  Deion Wells-Ross came off the bench to score 19 points with six rebounds.  Cooper Cook was 3-6 from 3-point land to score 17 points with five rebounds and two blocked shots, while Jack Hiller finished with 10 points.
 
NWU, which improves to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in IIAC action to remain in third place, shot 46.5 percent from the field for the game.  They were 50 percent in the second half and went 19-25 at the free throw line in the second half.
 
Wartburg had two players score 23 points to lead them in scoring.  Nick Webber was 10-19 from the field for his 23, while Jordan Cannon came off the bench to also score 23.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan now prepares for a busy week on the road as they will play three away IIAC games in six days, beginning with at Central College on Monday night.