COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA

The Van Riessen Era at Iowa Western is off on the right foot.

Iowa Western (1-0) rallied from a twelve-point deficit to top Iowa Lakes (0-1) at Reiver Arena in the team's 2020-21 home opener. 

Adjustments on transition defense and an emphasis on the defensive boards turned the game around for the Reivers after the deficit grew to its largest, early in the second half. 

Roland McCoy's 3-pointer with 13:43 left finally pulled the score even at 50 and Leech knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Reivers ahead.

Dewayne Vass spurred the rally offensively for IWCC off the bench with 30 points in his debut, including 16-18 from the free-throw line. 

In addition to Vass's impressive showing, three other Reivers scored in double figures with Elijah Pickens knocking down 6-11 from the field and 9-10 from the line to finish with 21 points and six assists.  Marcedus Leech, Jr. added 16 and Kelvin Balfour scored 12 to finish out double-digit performers.

"It was great to see our guys get rewarded with a win for their effort last night," said first-year head coach Chad Van Riessen, "I really liked our ability to focus and finish the game strong after a slow start in the first half."

Balfour led the Reivers on the boards with 8, while Leech and Karl Jones each added 7.    

In the game, IWCC knocked down 82.2% of their 45 attempts from the charity line and shot 44.4% from behind the 3-point line.

The team gets their first road test on Saturday when they travel to Ft. Dodge to face ICCAC rival Iowa Central at 3:00 pm.

Follow the team on Twitter https://twitter.com/ReiverMBB or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/reivermbb/