LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team begins postseason play on Thursday night (Feb. 27) as they host Simpson College in the American Rivers Conference Postseason Tournament Semifinals.  Tip-off between the Prairie Wolves and Storm is set for 7 p.m. in Snyder Arena.
 
10^th-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan received the No. 1 seed in the tournament earning a first round bye and home court advantage throughout the tournament.  It marks the fourth straight season the Prairie Wolves have been the top seed in the conference tournament.
 
The Prairie Wolves will host the No. 5 seed Simpson College in the semifinals.  The Storm upset No. 4 seed Buena Vista University 86-70 on the road Tuesday night in the opening round to earn a spot in the semifinals.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan (22-3) and Simpson (14-12) split their season series during the regular season.  NWU won 86-64 on Jan. 8 in Snyder Arena then last week the Storm upset the Prairie Wolves 86-59 on Feb. 19 in Indianola, Iowa to end NWU's win streak and hand them their only conference loss of the year.
 
Four-time conference champion NWU bounced back from their road loss with an 88-73 win on Saturday afternoon over Loras College.  The Prairie Wolves made 14 3-pointers after having their worst shooting performance of the season at Simpson.  NWU went 12-0 at home this season and the Prairie Wolves have won 26 straight home games against conference opponents.  
 
Simpson is on a four-game winning streak as they played their way into the conference tournament and have carried that momentum into the A-R-C tournament.  During the Storm's four-game winning streak, they are shooting over 50% as a team and have made at least 11 3-pointers in each of the past three games making 49.2% from 3-point land.
 
This is a rematch of last year's American Rivers Tournament semifinals when Nebraska Wesleyan defeated Simpson 85-80 in Snyder Arena during the 2019 tournament.  NWU has won the past two conference tournament championships and is 4-1 overall competing in the postseason conference tournament.  Simpson is looking for their first tournament title game appearance since 2006.
 
The winner of Thursday's semifinal matchup will advance to the A-R-C Tournament Championship game on Saturday night (Feb. 29) to face the winner of #6 seed Wartburg College vs. #2 seed Coe College.  If NWU wins, the game will be held in Snyder Arena.