LINCOLN, Neb. – It was a 3-point shooting display on Saturday as Nebraska Wesleyan knocked down 19 3-pointers to rout Luther College 106-60 in IIAC men's basketball action at Snyder Arena.
Playing at home for the first time in over a month, the Prairie Wolves used the friendly confines to hit 51.4 percent from 3-point range (19-37) for the game. The first half was one of the best shooting performances during the Coach Wellman era as NWU made 13-18 (72.2%) from beyond the arc to build up a 65-35 halftime lead.
With the victory, Nebraska Wesleyan remains tied for the IIAC lead at 3-1 in conference play and 9-3 overall, while Luther is still winless in league play at 0-5 and 2-10 on the season.
Freshman
Dylan Dirks got the Prairie Wolves scoring train rolling in the first half. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game, then added another one three minutes later. Dirks finished the half with two more 3-pointers knocking down 5-5 from long range before going to the bench with two fouls.
Deion Wells-Ross was just as impressive in the first half as the was 3-3 on 3-pointers off the bench also scoring 15 first half points.
Cooper Cook was 3-4 and
Jack Hiller 2-3 on 3-pointers in that memorable first half shooting exhibition.
NWU shot 71.4 percent from the floor in the first half, compared to only 39.3 for the Norse as the would nearly doubled their score in the opening 20 minutes.
Things cooled off in the second half as NWU was only 6-19 from deep and 40.0 percent overall.
Nebraska Wesleyan also used their full court pressure defense to force 19 Norse turnovers, scoring 27 points off those turnovers.
Five different players reached double figures for the Prairie Wolves and 14 different players scored in the game as NWU topped 100 points for the first time since November.
Wells-Ross and Cook both ended the game with 19 points. Wells-Ross had a team-high nine rebounds and led the team with five assists. Cook was 5-8 from 3-point land.
Dirks did not score in the second half to finish with a season-high 15 points.
Blake Ruiz and
Nate Schimonitz each scored 10 points.
Luther had only one player in double figures as Kevin Stafford scored 10 points.
