IW basketball: Tigers set for SLIAC battle

MT. PLEASANT - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is just three games in to its 16-game conference schedule but with only four teams making the conference tournament, it's go time when play picks back up in January.

The Iowa Wesleyan men and women both find themselves 1-2 in SLIAC play. Both Tiger teams popped Principia in their conference openers but neither team could pick up a road win on back-to-back weekends at Westminster and Spalding.

The Tiger men are in a more admirable position than the women. The men's race seems to be up in the air with all 10 SLIAC teams picking up at least one loss in their first three conference games.

Six teams are tied for first in the men's standings. IW finds themselves in a tie for seventh with Spalding and MacMurray.

Interestingly enough, nine of the 10 teams in the league have losing nonconference records. Eureka is the only team sitting above .500 on the season, at 6-3, and the Red Devils are also the only team that has outscored its foes in total points for vs. points against.

Eureka is the defending SLIAC tournament champion and they had a promising start to the conference slate, beating Blackburn and Principia on the road before falling at home to Westminster. Preseason favorite Webster won just one nonconference game, but they're sitting in a good spot as well, picking up two home wins, one over Spalding and one over MacMurray in overitme. Sandwiched between those two wins is a one-point loss at Greenville, who also sits at 2-1 after being picked second in the preseason poll.

IW was picked ninth in the preseason poll with Principia being the only team behind them in the poll. IW has been leading at halftime of both of their two conference losses.

After closing out the nonconference schedule last week, IW head coach Alex Huisman looked at the road ahead for his squad.

'It's maybe the most wide open the conference has been since I've been here,” Huisman said. 'We know we have the chance to win every single game. There's not a game we should go into worried about not being able to beat that team.”

The women's team has a bigger mountain to climb if they want to get into the top four. The Tigers blasted Principia 79-40 in their first conference game, but have taken two-straight blowout losses when they traveled to Westminster and Spalding.

The good news for IW is the quality of teams the Tigers have lost to. Spalding and Westminster are a combined 5-1 in conference play and were both picked to finish top three in the preseason. Maybe a softer schedule will benefit the Tigers and boost the team to a couple of SLIAC wins in early January.

After a nonconference home game last week, first year head coach Temaine Wright talked about how the break from action may help his team get back on their feet.

'We need a little break mentally, and physically as well,” Wright said. 'I think the break will be good.”

Wright also spoke about putting IW putting the past behind them and getting ready for SLIAC play to pick back up.

'Despite the rough start, it's an opportunity,” Wright said. 'The conference games are the ones that matter.”

The women's field is a little more spread out after three games. Spalding and Fontbonne are at the top, at 3-0, and MacMurray and Principia bring up the rear, going 0-3 to start league play.

In the SLIAC preseason poll, IW was picked to finish seventh, ahead of Blackburn, MacMurray and Principia.

Both IW teams will be loking to even their SLIAC records on Saturday, Jan. 4, when the Tigers travel to Blackburn for their first games of the new year. The Beaver men are 2-1, and the women sit at 1-2.

The first home games of 2020 will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 8, four days after the Blackburn doubleheader. The Tigers will host Eureka, a school that boasts two 2-1 teams.

2019 SLIAC MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS: T-1. Eureka 2-1; T-1. Fontbonne 2-1; T-1 Blackburn 2-1; T-1 Westminster 2-1; T-1. Greenville 2-1; T-1. Webster 2-1; T-7. Iowa Wesleyan 1-2; T-7. MacMuray 1-2; T-7. Spalding 1-2; 10. Principia 0-3.

2019 SLIAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS: T-1. Spalding 3-0; T-1. Fontbonne 3-0; T-3. Eureka 2-1; T-3. Webster 2-1; T-3. Westminster 2-1; T-6. Blackburn 1-2; T-6. Greenville 1-2; T-6. Iowa Wesleyan 1-2; T-9. MacMurray 0-3; T-9. Principia 0-3.