DUBUQUE, Iowa –
Nate Schimonitz made the go-ahead 3-pointer with six seconds remaining and a Dubuque 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good as Nebraska Wesleyan picked up a key 85-84 victory over the Spartans on Saturday afternoon at the Stoltz Center in Dubuque, Iowa.
The Prairie Wolves have now won four games in row to improve to 16-2 overall and 7-2 in Iowa Conference play to sit in a tie on top of the league standings.
NWU trailed by four points with 2:00 minutes remaining and were down by eight points with just over four minutes left. A 3-pointer by
Jack Hiller at the 1:50 mark cut the Spartan lead down to one point. Dubuque missed a free throw on their next possession to give the ball back to the Prairie Wolves with a chance to take the lead. The Prairie Wolves layup was blocked to give the ball back to the Spartans.
Ryan Garver made a steal with 50 seconds left to get the ball back into the hands of the Prairie Wolves.
Nate Schimonitz hit a running layup with 26 seconds remaining to put the Prairie Wolves ahead for the first time since the opening minute of the second half. Dubuque answered as Marcus McDaniel nailed a 3-pointer at the top of the key.
That gave the ball back to NWU and setup the eventual game winning 3-pointer by Schimonitz from the left win. McDaniel got a 3-pointer off before the buzzer but it went off the rim giving the Prairie Wolves the victory.
Nebraska Wesleyan trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half as they struggled shooting from the outside against the Dubuque zone defense. The Prairie Wolves heated up and were able to pull within two points at halftime.
In the second half the Prairie Wolves made 10-22 from 3-point range to give them 14 for the game.
Cooper Cook led the way with 24 points, making 4-7 from 3-point land. Cook also had nine rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.
Jack Hiller made four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points.
Nate Schimonitz scored 14 points with
Ryan Garver scoring 13. The fifth NWU starter,
Deion Wells-Ross had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.
T.J. Lake led Dubuque with 30 points on 11-19 shooting.
