DUBUQUE, Iowa - In a battle of the top two seeds in the American Rivers Conference on Wednesday night, the University of Dubuque men's basketball team would fall in overtime 64-57 to the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves.
Tonight was a defensive battle for both the Spartans and Prairie Wolves as neither team really found an offensive spark in the first half, leading to a slim 26-21 halftime score in favor of the Spartans. The Spartans 21 points allowed in the first half were the lowest in any half this season.
In the second half the Spartans lead would reach double figures and would stay that way for nearly three quarters of the second half. After a Spartans bucket with 4:57 left to give the Spartans a 10 point lead, the Spartans would go scoreless the rest of regulation as the Prairie Wolves closed on a 10-0 run to send the game to overtime. The first overtime for the Spartans this season.
In overtime after the Spartans would make their second three-pointer of overtime to take the lead, similar to the end of regulation, the Prairie Wolves finished on a 9-0 run to close the game out.
Grady Thompson finished with 22 points, knocking down four from three-point range.
Sunday John contributed the other three made three-pointers for the Spartans as he was able to finish with 13 points.
Jaylin McCants ended with 12 points on 5-10 shooting.
Jalen Scott had eight assists to lead the team while
Jacob Williams added a team-high seven rebounds.
Hear from Robbie Sieverding
"Tough one tonight at home. Our guys battled and had a chance to put them away but gave them to many offensive rebounds in the second half. We were really good on defense but needed to finish some of those possessions off. Their zone gave us some problems and we couldn't seem to get in a grove tonight. Our guys have improved a ton and I'm confident they will respond the right way."
The Spartans fall to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in conference play with the lone two losses to the Prairie Wolves.
Up Next
The Spartans will have Saturday off before they travel to Luther College to play the Norse on Wednesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m.
