LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team begins postseason play on Thursday night (Feb. 22) as they host Wartburg College in the IIAC Postseason Tournament Semifinals.  Tip-off between the Prairie Wolves and Knights is set for 7 pm in Snyder Arena.
 
NWU received the No. 1 seed in the tournament earning a first round bye and home court advantage throughout the tournament.  The Prairie Wolves, who were IIAC regular season championships for the second straight year, will host the No. 5 seed Wartburg College in the semifinals.  The Knights defeated No. 4 Simpson College on Tuesday night in the opening round to earn a spot in the semifinals.
 
The Prairie Wolves defeated the Knights in both regular season matchups this season including a 90-81 victory on February 10 in Waverly, Iowa handing Wartburg just their second home loss of the year.  NWU has now won five straight games and 10 of the past 11 to finish the regular season at 22-3 overall.
 
Wartburg won the 2017 IIAC Tournament as the No. 6 seed winning three straight road games to earn a spot in the NCAA III National Tournament where they advanced to the Sweet 16.  The Knights are trying to repeat that performance again this year.  They have won five of the past six games with their only loss coming to NWU on Feb. 10.
 
NWU was upset by the No. 5 seed in the IIAC Tournament semifinals last year as the Prairie Wolves are looking for their first IIAC conference tournament victory.  The Prairie Wolves are the top scoring team in the IIAC at 96.8 points per game, but they will face a Wartburg team that leads the league in scoring defense allowing 74.0 points a game.
 
The winner of the NWU-Wartburg semifinal game will advance to the IIAC Tournament Championship that is scheduled for Saturday (Feb. 22).  If NWU is the winner, they will host the game facing the winner of the other semifinal that matches No. 6 Central College at No. 2 Loras College.
 
An automatic berth to the NCAA III National Tournament is awarded to the winner of the IIAC Tournament.  The first round of nationals begins on March 2.