Third time not a charm for Reivers in title game

Otumwa, IA -- Iowa Western fell to the NJCAA #1 ranked team in the country Indian Hills (32-0) in the Region XI title game between the league's two best teams of the 2017-18 season Saturday (3/3/18) evening.

Much like what Iowa Western did to Southeastern in the region's semi-final Wednesday (2/28/18) night, the home-standing Warriors from Ottumwa blitzed the Reivers from the opening tip. Antonio Williams had 12 of his game high 16 points in the games opening frame, as the Warriors never looked back en route to a 86-63 victory over the conference's #2 seed.

The Reivers had three players score in double figures. Patrick Dembley led the Reivers in both points and assists with 17 and 5 respectively.  Isaiah Wade had another double-double, his 16th of the year, with 12 points and 11 rebounds; while Decardo Day added 12 points as well.

Iowa Western must now sit and wait to see if they can capture an NJCAA tournament at-large bid.  The Reivers resume has a 25-7 overall record, with 5 of those 7 losses coming to eventual region champions (Indian Hills (XI), MSU-West Plains (XVI)). Iowa Western also showed tremendous consistency throughout the 2017-18 campaign, having been in all 12 NJCAA Top 25 polls throughout the season (9 weeks in the top 25, and 3 weeks receiving national votes). The Reivers ranked 8th in the country in points scored (2,394) and 21st in the country in points per contest (91.7 ppg) during this season's campaign. NJCAA national tournament selections and bracket pairings will be decided this Sunday (3/11/18).