Nebraska Wesleyan pulls off the double with American Rivers Conference Tournament title - Mar 1, 2019
Looking primed for an NCAA-tournament appearance, Nebraska Wesleyan completed the American Rivers Conference double by adding the conference-tournament title to its regular-season crown. The Prairie Wolves, ranked No. 1 in all of NCAA Division III, were impressive in their 97-79 victory over Loras in a battle of the top-two seeds in the conference. NWU has won or shared the regular-season championship since it entered the conference three years ago. The tournament championship is the team's second-straight. Loras has very strong NCAA at-large credentials and looks forward to Monday's announcement of the 64-team field. Ryan Garver (6'3''-F), last year's conference Player of the Year, was sensational tonight with a game-high 33 points. He was 12-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the foul line. He also had game-highs of 10 rebounds and nine assists. NWU was balanced in scoring after Garver. Four other players -- Nate Bahe (6'3''-G) (15 pts.), Clay Reimers (6'7''-C) (14), Jack Hiller (6'6''-G) (13) and Nate Schimonitz (6'4''-G) (13) -- supported Garver in fine fashion. Loras was led by Ryan Dicanio (6'3''-G)'s 20 points and backcourt mate Josh Ruggles (6'2''-G)'s 15 points. Jordan Boyd (6'6''-F) pitched in with 10 points. Wesleyan led the game, 43-31, at halftime. Loras made a push when the clock dipped under 10 minutes, cutting the lead to 10 on Boyd's dunk with 6:58 left in the game. The P-Wolves answered with an 11-0 run that pretty much wrapped things up. Garver had four points in that stretch and Hiller hit a 3-pointer. Fittingly, Garver hit four-straight FTs in the final minute for Wesleyan's final points of the night. Loras was making its third trip to the conference title game in program history and first since 2008. The Duhawks were the only team to hand top-ranked NWU a loss this season as the two teams split their regular-season contests. NWU will enter the NCAA tournament with an overall record of 26-1; including two wins in the conference tournament, the P-Wolves were 17-1 in A-R-C play. Loras presents itself to the NCAA committee with an outstanding 21-7 overall record and this past week's West Region ranking of No. 3. The Duhawks ranked 18th nationally in this week's Top 25 poll.
Player of the Year: Ryan Garver (6'3''-F) of Nebr.Wesleyan Defensive Player of the Year: Ryan Garver (6'3''-F) of Nebr.Wesleyan Coach of the Year: Dale Wellman of Nebr.Wesleyan
Wellman
