IW men fall in USCAA opener

By Andy Krutsinger,

Mt. Pleasant News

UNIONTOWN, Pa. ? The Iowa Wesleyan men got off to a fast start against Concordia College of Alabama in Wednesday evening?s USCAA quarterfinals but the Hornets were just a little too strong.

Concordia battled back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to knock off the Tigers, 81-71, sending IW to the loser?s bracket.

The Tigers came ready to play in the opening minutes. Austin Walker, Steven Soukup, Michael Soukup and Brock Butler all got on the scoreboard in the first five minutes, led by Michael who had four quick points to lead the Tigers to an 11-6 lead.

After the Hornets cut the score to 11-8, Mitch Drey knocked down a couple of free throws and then hit a layup to make it 15-8. After a Hornet miss, Elijah Johnson drained the team?s first three-pointer and IW was rolling, up 18-8, with 12:41 remaining in the first half.

Concordia picked up the pace, however, and started to climb back into it. The Hornets eventually erased the Tigers? lead completely when Jamal Holt made a layup to give Concordia a 30-29 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half.

The Hornets stretched the lead to eight points, at 39-31, but the Tigers closed the half on a 4-0 run and it was 39-35 at the break.

In the second half, the Hornets were able to pull out to a double-digit lead. The Tigers cut it to six points a couple of different times but that?s as close as they would get as Concordia eventually walked out with a 10-point win.

Steven finished the game with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers in defeat. Butler scored 15 points and Michael had 12 points and 11 rebounds on 4-4 shooting. Both Butler and Micheal had three assists, which co-led the team.

Drey scored nine points in the loss. Johnson had eight. Walker and Jake Neubauer scored three apiece, and C.J. Singletary had two.

The Tigers played in this morning?s consolation round, which started at 9 a.m., central. They played sixth-seeded Florida National University in a contest which will not be finished as of press time.