Iowa Wesleyan swept at Webster University

WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. - The Iowa Wesleyan basketball teams couldn't pull off any road upsets against first-place Webster University on Wednesday night. The Gorlok men, who share first place with Greenville University, escaped the Tigers 80-75, and the Webster women ran past IW 108-74.

The Tiger men were coming off a five-point loss to Greenville on Monday and once again came up just short of knocking off one of the top SLIAC teams.

IW couldn't find their offense in the first half, going into the halftime break at a 40-25 deficit. The Tigers stormed back in the second half, however, and cut the lead down to as low as four points, when Alex Dentlinger knocked down a three-pointer with 1:42 left that sliced the lead to 73-69.

Less than a minute later, the Tigers had the ball with a chance to cut the lead to single digits, but IW was never able to get it any lower than four, and Webster pulled away to take an eight-point lead, at 80-72, with 26 seconds remaining.

Jake Neubauer knocked down a three-pointer in the final seconds to get the deficit back down to five, but time ran out on IW's rally and the Tigers had to settle for their second-straight close loss.

Despite the loss, Dentlinger was deadly from long range. He finished 6-10 from behind the three-point line and led the squad with 24 points.

Neubauer finished the night with 15 points. Jarryd Fernandes had 13 points and 17 rebounds. Austin Banks and Alberto Torres had nine points each. Jett Tjaden scored three, and Marvin Saintolien scored two points and dished out five assists.

The Tiger women couldn't contain a high-powered Webster offense in the first half. The Gorloks led 32-12 after the first quarter and 66-36 at halftime.

IW played the Gorloks a lot closer in the second half. Webster outscored the Tigers 22-20 in the third quarter and 20-18 in the fourth.

Allie Massner scored 20 points in the loss, going 7-13 from the field and 3-7 from three-point range. Sydney Farrar scored 14 points. Maddie Williamdon went for 13 points, six steals and four assists.

Morgan McCrea made it four Tigers in double digits with 10 points on the night. Deericka Martin scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds. Harriet Fowler had six points, and the duo of Da'Jaah Swolley and Kieley Allen scored two points apiece.

The IW men are now 6-10 overall and 3-6 in the conference. The women are 2-14 overall and 2-7 in conference play. Both teams will travel to Principia College on Saturday, Jan. 25.