PELLA, Iowa – Nebraska Wesleyan shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half and outscored Central College by 12 points as the Prairie Wolves picked up a conference road victory with a 99-86 win over the Dutch on Wednesday night (Dec. 6) in Pella, Iowa.
 
NWU moves to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in IIAC play.  The 7-0 start to the season is the best for a Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team in 20 years when the 1997-98 team began the year 23-0.
 
The Prairie Wolves used another balanced offensive attack to begin their five-game road trip.  NWU had six players score in double figures.  One of the most important stats was the Prairie Wolves ability to take care of the ball with only five turnovers in the game.
 
Central led by as many as four points in the first half in a game that saw the lead go back and forth.  In the first half alone, the lead changed eight times with two ties.  NWU would take a 44-43 lead at the halftime as Austin Hall made a 3-pointer right before the buzzer.
 
NWU never got ahead by more than four points in the second half, until the final ten minutes of the half.  The Prairie Wolves went on a 12-3 run over a two minute stretch to build up a double digit advantage.   They went up by as many as 16 points with 4:44 remaining in the game.  Central did cut the lead to nine points in the final minutes, but that was as close as they could get.
 
Cooper Cook led the balanced Prairie Wolves offensive attack with 19 points.  Cook had eight rebounds and a team-high four blocked shots in the contest.  Ryan Garver was just behind Cook with 18 points, going 7-11 from the field.  Nate Bahe scored 15 points in the game with a 3-pointer.
 
Deion Wells-Ross posted another double-double as he continues to fill up the stat sheet.  Wells-Ross scored 12 points with 12 rebounds and led NWU with seven assists.  Dylan Dirks came off the bench to make three 3-pointers for 13 points and Jack Hiller scored 10 points as the final NWU player scoring in double figures.
 
NWU shot 49.3 percent as a team making 19-31 from the floor in the second half.  They made 10-30 from behind the arc and continued their solid free throw shooting making 17-20.
 
Central had five players reach double figures led by Malik Wildermuth with 18 points.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan now steps out of conference for four consecutive road non-conference games beginning Sunday at Austin College in Texas.