St. Bonifacius, Minn. (February 22, 2021) - The Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team used another shutdown defensive effort to defeat Crown College (3-7), 75-54, for its second win in three days. NWU allowed less than 55 points for the second consecutive game and allowed Crown to shoot 24.2 percent from the three-point arc, the lowest by an opponent since January 25, 2020.
The Prairie Wolves cranked their defense up right away as they held the Storm to under 10 points for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game. NWU only allowed Crown to hit two three-pointers in the first half and allowed a three-point shooting percentage of just 13.3 percent. NWU's defense gave up a season-low of 21 points as it went to the halftime break with a 13 point lead.
After a cold-shooting first half, Nebraska Wesleyan warmed up as it shot 50 percent from the field and went 87.5 percent at the free-throw line. The Storm continued to have no answers in the second half as they were only able to cut the lead down to nine points before the Prairie Wolves extended it to 20 points with under eight minutes to go. The lead would never fall under an 11 point margin for the rest of the game.
Landon Torneten recorded his first career double-double as he finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He missed just one shot the entire game in 34 minutes of action.
Notable Stats and Performances
-Nebraska Wesleyan held its last two opponents to shoot under 34 percent from the field and 31 percent or less from the three-point line.
-NWU has won its last two games by a combined 38 points and won the rebounding margin by 12 or more rebounds in both games.
-The Prairie Wolves had three players score in double-figures and eight players score at least five points.
-Connor Riekenberg scored in double-figures for the third straight game and Josh Rogers recorded double-digit points for the third time in four games.
-The last time Crown College was held to 54 points or less was November 15, 2019.
-Crown's Seth Royston scored a game-high 18 points.
What's Next
Nebraska Wesleyan makes its home debut on Thursday, February 25 in a non-conference game against Buena Vista. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Snyder Arena.
