"We came out with a lot of focus and intensity in that second half," Reivers head coach Chad Van Reissen said. "We were able to sustain that pace for the whole half and once we took the lead we were able to remain consistent down the stretch."

"Our guys did a great job attacking their defense, and defensively we stayed true to our style of defense to finish it off."

The Spartans never let the Reivers get too far in front, but after the Reivers took the lead late in the game, they never gave it back. While a flagrant and technical foul also helped put the game out of reach, Van Reissen credits a big part of that to how his team ran the offense.

"They started to find success possession by possession, and were gaining more of an understanding of what we were looking for to exploit their defense," Van Reissen said. "Honestly I just let them call their own more here, whereas sometime when we're on these runs we try to call our own design to move the ball and take advantage of the defense, here they were doing great on their own."

The Reiver men will now prepare for their final regular season game, which will be played at Reiver Arena on Saturday against NJCAA Division II No. 3 Des Moines Area. The Reivers and Bears will tip-off at 3 p.m.

Southwestern (11-10) 44 30 — 74