MANKATO, Minn. – Top-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan passed their first road test of the 2018-19 season as the Prairie Wolves went on the road to defeat Bethany Lutheran College 104-85 in NCAA III men's basketball action on Monday night (Nov. 12) in Mankato, Minn.
The Prairie Wolves shot 58.2 percent from the field and withstood a big 3-point shooting effort from the Vikings to post their second victory scoring 100 points. Bethany Lutheran, which made the 2018 NCAA III Tournament and won a game last season, finished the game 16-33 from 3-point range but they could never get into single digits.
NWU (2-0) went ahead 22-12 with just over 13 minutes left to play in the first half and never allowed the Vikings to get back within single digits. The Prairie Wolves, who extend their win streak to 15 games, led 58-39 at halftime.
Bethany Lutheran tried to make a run in the second half, but each time the Prairie Wolves responded. The Vikings cut the lead to 16 points and the crowd came alive with just under 11 minutes to play but
Nate Bahe silenced them with a 3-pointer. They pulled within 14 points later in the half only to see NWU go on a quick 7-0 run to get back ahead by 21.
Nebraska Wesleyan used another extremely balanced offensive attack with four players reaching double figures in scoring.
Nate Schimonitz scored a game-high 27 points, making 12-18 shots from the floor. Schimonitz also had seven rebounds and dished out five assists.
For the second straight game,
Ryan Garver posted a double-double with 22 points and 11 assists. Garver was 7-9 from the floor and 3-3 on 3-point attempts while tying for team-lead with seven rebounds.
Jack Hiller scored 18 points with two made 3-pointers and
Nate Bahe came off the bench to score 11 points.
As a team, NWU was 10-22 from 3-point range for 45.5 percent while holding a +10 advantage in rebounding.
Bethany Lutheran falls to 2-1 on the season. They were coming off an overtime road win at American Rivers Conference foe Simpson College. The Vikings were led in scoring by Jared Milinkovich who scored 16 points.
NWU is back in action this weekend at the Carroll Classic in Wisconsin.
