CHICAGO, Ill. – In a rematch from the 2019 NCAA III Tournament, 15^th-ranked University of St. Thomas shot lights out from 3-point range making 19 total 3-pointers to hand 8^th-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan their first loss of the season in an 82-63 game at the Midway Classic hosted by the University of Chicago on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 23).
 
St. Thomas (3-1) has now defeated the Prairie Wolves in back-to-back seasons having ended NWU's season last year in the second round of the tournament.  The Prairie Wolves have lost only three of their last 47 games, two of them coming at the hands of the Tommies.
 
UST jumped out to a big first half lead getting ahead by as many as 14 points early in the game.  NWU slowly chipped away to get as close as two points then went into halftime trailing 35-31.
 
In the second half, the Prairie Wolves got two straight 3-pointers by Jack Hiller and Clay Reimers with the Reimers three tying the game at 46-46 with 13:23 left in the game.  The game was tied a second time at 48-48, and later the Prairie Wolves were within one point at 51-50 with ten minutes left.
 
From there, the Tommies caught fire from beyond the arc.  On four straight possessions, St. Thomas made 3-pointers to get the lead back to double digits by holding NWU scoreless on the other end.  NWU finally ended the scoring drought, but UST drained another 3-pointer to go up by 16 points with just over six minutes remaining.
 
Reimers converted an old fashioned 3-point play with 4:53 left to cut the lead to ten points but that was as close as they would get.  NWU had a chance to get within single digits but two straight 3-pointers rimmed off and UST closed out the victory.
 
St. Thomas was 19-39 from 3-point range for the game, shooting better from beyond the arc then they did overall as a team.  They shot 48.7 percent on 3-pointers and 45.3 overall.  UST was 15-16 at the free throw line for 93.8 percent.
 
NWU struggled offensively shooting a season-low 44.4 percent hitting 6-23 from long range. 
 
Four Prairie Wolves finished in double figures led by Nate Schimonitz with 16 points and four assists.  Jack Hiller scored 12 points with nine rebounds and went over 1,000 points for his career with his first 3-pointer of the game.  Clay Reimers had 12 points and eight rebounds with Nate Bahe scoring 10.  The Prairie Wolves got only seven points from their bench, compared to 26 by St. Thomas.
 
Ryan Lindberg and Tommy Anderson both scored 19 points to lead the Tommies, each of them making five 3-pointers.  Last season's NCAA III Freshman of the Year, Anders Nelson, scored 12 points with six rebounds and six assists.
 
NWU will now take on the host school, University of Chicago, on Sunday in the consolation game at 12 pm.