Council Bluffs, IA -- The Iowa Western Reivers men's basketball team closed out the 2019 portion of their 19-20 season with a 93-88 victory over the visiting Cloud County Thunderbirds Tuesday (12/17) evening at Reiver Arena; and in doing so collected their 6th win in the last 7 games heading into the winter break.
The final game of the semester was representative of the entire semester, as the Reivers once again found themselves training by 15 points midway through the first half at 34-19. Following an Iowa Western timeout; the Reivers, as they have all season long, mounted another comeback attempt. Only this attempt was a lightning quick comeback as Iowa Western behind the shooting of Josiah Strong and Caleb Huffman; along with the newly found inside scoring game of Bryce Fitzgerald went on a 18-1 run to take the lead. After the aforementioned timeout, the Reivers outscored the Thunderbirds 24-8 in total; and lead 43-42 at intermission.
The second half saw both teams trade leads for much of the second frame. Both teams held five to six point cushions at times but were unable to get free of the other squad. Finally, it seemed as thought the Reivers found that serge, pushing the lead out to eleven with 7:34 to go. However, the traveling team from Concordia, KS was up to the task on the final game of the semester and got the game back to a three point game with 1:56 to go. Sensing a key moment in the game, the Reivers called timeout to gather themselves from the T-Birds rally; and following that stoppage in play Strong hit a three point shot as the shot clock was expiring for the game's most significant swing, pushing the lead back up to a 6 point Iowa Western advantage. Damontrez Ruffin then coolly sank four straight freethrows to ice the Reivers' 10th win of the season.
Iowa Western had steady solid play throughout the lineup as five Reivers scored in double figures: Strong (21), Fitzgerald (18), Huffman and Kaleb Thornton (16 each), and Seneca Louis (10) rounded out the double figure scorers. Cloud County was led by Akene Agee's 17 points; while Iyen Enaruna collected a "double-double" for Cloud County with his 11 point - 11 rebound effort.
Iowa Western, after playing 17 games in the first semester, now has a respite until early January. That opening game of the 2020 calender will be against 12-1 North Iowa Area in Mason City, IA; on January 4th. Tip time between the Reivers and Trojans is slated for 6:00pm.
