Norfolk, NE -- The Iowa Western men's basketball team opened conference play in Norfolk, NE Saturday (1/11) evening. In a game that would ultimately have eight ties and seven lead changes, the Reivers would come up a possession short in the contest's final minute; and after a few clinching foul shots from Northeast, fall 89-83 to the homestanding Hawks.
In the first half, both team's came out like boxers trying to "feel out" their opponent, trading baskets for the first several minutes. As the game's first half worked towards halftime Northeast grabbed it's largest lead of the contest of 15 points with 6:31 to play. Iowa Western then responded with a 16-6 finish closing the deficit to five points at 39-34 by halftime.
In the second half the Reivers made their largest surge of the contest. Behind the sharp shooting of Josiah Strong, who went on a personal 11-2 run of his own, Iowa Western reclaimed the lead with 13:12 to go and extended their advantage to as many as seven points with 11:07 to play. That lead would be short lived however, and would prove to be the Reivers' largest advantage of the game. Northeast responded with a 8-0 on their own to reclaim the lead in just little over two minutes of game time. From their it was a back-and-forth affair as both teams executed efficiently offensively, while struggling to get consecutive stops against their opponent. Ultimately, The Hawks would get that final key stop with a little under a minute to go. Northeast would then go 6/6 from the charity stripe to ice their conference home opener.
Iowa Western had four players in double figures. the aforementioned Strong led the Reivers with his 29 point performance, Damontrez Ruffin added 16 points, while Kaleb Thornton and Seneca Louis both contributed 13 points to the contest.
After returning from the break with three straight road contests, Iowa Western now opens it's 2020 conference home slate at Reiver Arena this Wednesday (1/15) evening for against Marshalltown. Tip-time between the Reivers and Tigers is scheduled for 7:00pm.
