Iowa Wesleyan men bounce Beavers in SLIAC road game

The Iowa Wesleyan men?s basketball team took on Blackburn College in Carlinville, Ill., Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers were looking to remain unbeaten in conference after picking up a win against MacMurray in their first conference game of the season last week.

IWU had four members reach double figures to help them secure a 76-65 win over the Beavers.

The Tigers were the first to score in the contest after Marquis Jones came up with a steal on defense and Steven Soukup sank a three-pointer.

Blackburn was able to stay close in the opening minutes of play, but IWU was able to build a lead as the first half went on.

Brock Butler helped extend the Tiger lead on two occasions. He put IWU ahead by eight with a three-pointer at the 12:50 minute mark. On the next Iowa Wesleyan possession, he drained another three to give IWU a 20-9 lead.

The Beavers were never far from out of it in the first half, and they were able to cut the lead to six points with just under ten minutes left to play in the opening period.

Steven converted on a three point play to put the Tigers back up by ten with 7:40 to go. After trading baskets on the next few possessions, Blackburn was able to put together a run that cut the deficit to three points with under four minutes remaining in the first half.

Iowa Wesleyan?s defense was able to hold the Beavers to just two points in the final four minutes of the half, and the Tigers would hold a nine point advantages as the teams went to the locker room.

The second half started with a steal and a layup by the Beavers which cut the IWU lead to seven. Butler was able to answer with a three-pointer to bring the score to 41-31.

The Beavers went on a 13-6 run to get within three points of the Tiger lead.

Iowa Wesleyan did not let it get any closer than that as they quickly extended their lead back up to 11 points with 13:27 remaining after C.J. Singletary scored in the paint. Blackburn continued to try to make runs, but they were unable to get any closer than six points from the Tigers.

A pair of free throws by the Beavers brought the score to 61-55 with just under seven minutes to play in the game. Iowa Wesleyan scored six unanswered points, getting layups from Steven, Singletary, and Michael Soukup before Blackburn was able to stop the run with a three-pointer. The Beavers had chances to score, but missed some layups late. They were forced to foul, and Iowa Wesleyan took advantage of getting to the free throw line. The Tigers were able to secure a 76-65 victory over the Beavers to remain unbeaten in conference play.

Steven led all scorers with 24 points on 11-15 shooting from the field.

Michael was not far behind him, finishing with 17 points, including 7-8 from the free throw line. Jones and Butler were the final two Tigers to score in double figures. Jones added 12 points and Butler recorded 11 points and seven rebounds in the win.

Iowa Wesleyan?s next game will be today (Tuesday).

They will host Principia College in Olan G. Ruble Arena at 7 pm. The Tigers are 4-3 overall this season and have a SLIAC record of 2-0.