LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan clinched the 2017-18 Iowa Conference men's basketball regular season championship with a 104-80 victory over Central College on Wednesday night (Feb. 14) at Snyder Arena.
 
The victory gives the Prairie Wolves the IIAC regular season title for a second straight season and also secures home court advantage and the No. 1 seed in the IIAC Postseason Tournament that begins next week.
 
It was another hot shooting night for the Prairie Wolves as they hit over 60 percent in each half, ending the game at 60.3 percent, making 13-24 from 3-point range.  Seven different players made a 3-pointer and all five starters reached double figures as the Prairie Wolves topped 100 points for the 8^th time this season.
 
NWU made their first six shots of the game, to lead 16-5 less than five minutes into the game.  They never trailed the entire game and closed the first half on a 11-2 run to take a 49-30 advantage into the halftime locker room.
 
Central cut the lead down to 10 points scoring 11 points in the first 2:30 of the half to make the score 51-41.  That was as close as the Dutch would get the rest of the way and the Prairie Wolves got ahead by as many as 28 points in the final minutes.
 
A total team effort gave the Prairie Wolves the IIAC regular season title with five players scoring at least 14 points on the night.  It was also the fourth time during IIAC play that the Prairie Wolves shot over 60 percent as a team.
 
Ryan Garver led NWU with 24 points and he barely missed out on a double-double.  Garver handed out a game-high nine assists, pulled down six rebounds and had three steals.  He was 7-10 from the floor and 9-11 at the free throw line.
 
Cooper Cook scored 19 points with five rebounds before fouling out of the game.  Jack Hiller hit 3-5 from 3-point land to score 15 points with two steals and Nate Schimonitz continued his strong play with 14 points and five assists.
 
NWU's lone senior, Deion Wells-Ross, was honored before the game and had a memorable night on the court as well.  Wells-Ross made the first shot of the game canning a 3-pointer and would make 4-6 from long distance to finish with 14 points before exiting in the final minutes to a standing ovation.
 
Central had four players reach double figures in scoring, led by Kyle Smith with 18 points and seven assists.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan will now have a week off before starting IIAC Postseason Tournament play on Thursday, Feb. 22.  The Prairie Wolves will host the winner of the #4 seed/#5 seed game that is scheduled for Feb. 20.  Tip-off for that semifinal game is set for 7 pm at Snyder Arena.