DUBUQUE, Iowa - The home conference opener for the University of Dubuque men's basketball team took place inside Stoltz Sports Center on late Tuesday afternoon as the Spartans faced the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves. The Spartans were able to control the tempo of the game in the opening half leading by 14 and put the Prairie Wolves away 72-57 for their first win in conference play. 

The Spartans were able to continue their stretch of making it tough on the opponent's offensive end as they held the Prairie Wolves to 24 points which is the lowest first half total of an opposing defense this season. The Spartans got 14 points off the bench in the first half from Grady Thompson as he nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds. The Spartans were able to build their biggest lead in the second half at 60-37 with 10:40 remaining in the game. The Prairie Wolves responded with a 12-0 run to cut the Spartans lead to only 11. The Spartans were able to shift momentum back closing the game out down the stretch. 

Coming off the A-R-C Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week honor, Jaylin McCants kept it rolling posting a 29 point, 14 rebound double-double in the win. McCants made 12 of the 26 field goals for the Spartans. Thompson would finish the night with a double-double as well scoring 14 points and collecting 13 rebounds. The Spartans had 39 total rebounds and the duo of McCants and Thompson accounted for 27 of them. Brock Simon and Sam Kilburg scored in double figures with 10 each and Simon found the open guys tonight, dishing out eight assists. 

The Spartans shot 26-54 (48.1%) from the field, 9-22 (40.9%) from three, and 11-17 (64.7%) from the free throw line tonight. The Spartans dominated the points in the paint battle with 28 compared to 16 for NWU. 

Head Coach: Robbie Sieverding
"Our guys really played well defensively for most of the night. M=Nebraska Wesleyan is a really good team and playing against there zone can be a different style of game. Jaylin was great all night and on top of scoring he rebounded the ball really well with 14 rebounds. Grady Thompson was also very good off the bench and had a great night as well. Brock ended up with eight assists and Sam had four and they both did a  great job finding people in the zone. We have had a stretch  of four games in eight days and three games in the last five days so a few days off is going to be good for our guys."

The Spartans move to a perfect 5-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.

Up Next
The Spartans will finally have a few rest days before they return to action against Luther College on Wednesday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Decorah, Iowa