Council Bluffs, IA -- The Iowa Western men's basketball team returned to ICCAC league play Wednesday (1/29) evening, moving to a perfect 3-0 conference home record at Reiver Arena this season; with a 82-59 victory over Northeast (NE). With the win, the Reivers stay very much in the conference title race, trailing both Southeastern (4-1) and Indian Hills (3-1) by a mere single game. Iowa Western handed Southeastern it's only conference loss last Wednesday (1/22) evening, and Indian Hills still has a trip to Council Bluffs on Saturday, February 8th. However, just as importantly, with the Iowa Western win, it eliminated Northeast from owning it's own tie-breaker on the Reivers. The Hawks were looking to own the head-to-head advantage over the Reivers after its 89-83 win over Iowa Western two weeks prior; however with the Reivers dominant performance, any chance of that advantage was dashed Wednesday night.
Both teams came out firing in front of fellow Reiver student-athletes being honored for their academic excellence at halftime of the contest. Six men's basketball members were also honored at halftime as well for their efforts in the classroom. Josiah Strong (4.0 GPA), Kaleb Thornton (4.0 GPA), Dusan Krivokapic (4.0 GPA), Bryce Fitzgerald (3.8 GPA), Jake Hazuka (3.5 GPA) ,and Mal Pine (3.0 GPA). Northeast made their first three 3pt attempts, but the Reiver countered with finishes as the basket and midrange shots of their own. The Reivers took control of the action midway through the first frame and extended their lead to as many as twelve points with 6:34 to play. As with all ICCAC Conference play, teams always show a fight, and Northeast stemmed the Reiver tide for a moment with their own counterpunch, getting the game back to a single possession with 2:06 to play until halftime. Iowa Western closed out the half strong and led by six at intermission, 37-31.
In the second half, the Reiver defense was the story, as it suffocated the league's leading scorer Emmette Page (27pts per contest in conference play) into just five points after halftime, often times double teaming the explosive scoring gaurd. With their leading man handled, Iowa Western turned to limiting the Hawks three point shooting. Northeast came into the contest shooting a conference high 670 attempts from behind the arch (to Iowa Western's 557 3pt attempts as a reference). After giving up the aforementioned opening three made 3pt shots of the game; Iowa Western held Northeast to just 5/28 from behind the arch the rest of the evening; enroute to holding Northeast to a season low 28 points in the second half. Spearheaded by that defensive effort, the Reivers would go on to collect a comfortable and important 82-59 conference victory, holding the high scoring Hawks to 31 points below their season average.
Caleb Huffman turned in a strong performance. The sophomore from Broken Arrow, OK led the Reivers in both scoring and rebounding with his 21 point - 9 rebound effort; just one board shy of a "double-double". Thornton, whom hounded Page most of the evening, poured in 16 points of his own; while Strong (11pts), Seneca Louis (10pts), and Damontrez Ruffin (10pts) also scored in double figures for the Reivers. Emmette Page did still lead his Hawks with 20 points, seven points under his ICCAC Conference leading average.
Up next for the Reivers is a road conference game against Marshalltwon on Staurday (2/1) night. The last time both the Reivers and Tigers met up turned out to be a classic ending at Reiver Arena, as Iowa Western came back from trailing by five points with 30 seconds to play in regulation to eventually win in overtime back on the 15th of January. Tip time between the two conference foes is slated for 7:00pm.
