WAUKESHA, Wis. – No. 1 Nebraska Wesleyan completed a successful weekend in Wisconsin as the Prairie Wolves won 77-67 over St. Norbert on Saturday (Nov. 17) at the Pioneer Tip-Off Classic hosted by Carroll University.
The Prairie Wolves improve to 4-0 on the season and have extended their winning streak to 17 games dating back to last season. St. Norbert, which was picked to win the Midwest Conference, drops to 1-2 to start the year.
NWU led by 12 points at halftime then got ahead by as many as 22 points in the second half. St. Norbert made a late run against the Prairie Wolves reserves and were able to pull within eight points in the final minute forcing Coach Wellman to put the starters back in to lock up the victory.
It was the NWU tough zone defense that had the Green Knights flustered most of the afternoon. St. Norbert finished with 18 turnovers and NWU scored 26 points off those turnovers. Meanwhile, NWU took very good care of the ball with just six turnovers of their own.
As a team, NWU shot 46.7 percent from the floor but only 31 percent from 3-point range making 9-29 from deep.
Nate Schimonitz, who was named the Pioneer Classic MVP, led the Prairie Wolves with 24 points. Schimonitz was 10-17 from the field and also tied for the team lead grabbing seven rebounds. He also handed out five assists without a turnover.
Dylan Dirks came off the bench to score 16 points in only 13 minutes of action. Dirks was 4-6 from 3-point range on the day.
Two other NWU players reached double figures in scoring.
Clay Reimers scored a season-high 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds with two blocked shots.
Jack Hiller, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, scored 11 points and had four steals.
Ryan Garver scored only six points but dished out nine assists.
Connor Curtis posted a double-double to lead St. Norbert. Curtis scored 14 points and pulled down 20 rebounds.
Nebraska Wesleyan will return to Lincoln next weekend as they host the 30
th Annual Snyder Classic on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
