DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque men's basketball team stayed unbeaten at home Saturday night as they edged the Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) Prairiewolves in overtime 69-65 to secure their second conference home victory of the season.
The Stoltz Sports Center crowd on Saturday night got a good ole fashion defensive barn-burner between the Spartans and Prairiewolves where the Spartans outscored NWU 25-24 and NWU answered in the second half 33-32 to send the game to OT where the Spartans had the answers down the stretch to secure the home victory.
The NWU defense was stifling right out of the gate as the Spartans managed 11 points through the first 10 minutes of the first half. With 3:23 left before halftime the Spartans trailed 17-20 before
Keegan Zimmerman would hit back-to-back threes followed by a
Dylan Anderson three to get their first lead of the game at 23-20.
Jaylin McCants would hit two free throws to cap off a 12-0 run which was the biggest of the game for the Spartans. The Spartans were able to hold a one point lead at intermission.
The Spartans were able to build their biggest lead of the game at the 16:27 mark at 37-29. The second half neither team could get a big enough run or separate themselves from the other as it went back and forth through the entire second half. The Spartans found themselves trailing 54-57 with only 21 seconds remaining, but
Brock Simon found McCants for a lay-up as he got fouled in the process. McCants would make the free throw to even the game at 57-57. NWU couldn't get a quality look to end the game as we head to OT.
NWU would be the first to score in the OT period, but clutch shots by
Sam Kilburg,
Josh Hammer, and McCants sealed the game for the Spartans.
McCants was able to get to the free throw line more times than the entire NWU team going 15-21 from the line, whereas NWU went 16-20 from the charity stripe. McCants finished the night with a game high 21 points and grabbing nine boards to lead the Spartans. Zimmerman was the other Spartan to reach double figures with 10 points. The first half, NWU would have 11 points off Spartans turnovers and zero points off turnovers for the Spartans. The second half would nearly flip as the Spartans used NWU turnovers to their advantage to finish the game with 13 points for both teams off opposing team turnovers.
Up Next
The University of Dubuque men's basketball team will have finals to open up the week and will have off until they host the University of Northwestern (MN) on Saturday, December 17 with a 3:00 p.m. tip. The Spartans will then be off for Christmas break before they head to Las Vegas for two games after Christmas.
