IW men and women win big

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Saturday turned out to be a very successful day for both the Iowa Wesleyan men and women’s basketball teams.

Both squads picked up wins on the second day of action in the Bacone Classic against Northern New Mexico College.

The IW men won big over the Eagles 80-52 and the women dominated 68-46.

On the boys’ side, the Eagles jumped out to a quick start with a jumper by Chano Herrera scoring the first two points of the game.

This would be the only lead of the game for the Eagles, as tip-in by Henry Shannon put the Tigers on the board and they never looked back.

This sparked a 14-3 run over the next four minutes of play powered by Gacoby Jones scoring 10 during this stint.

At the halfway point in the first half, the Tigers were able to take complete control of the game with a score of 24-10.

With all momentum behind the Tigers, they would hold the Eagles without a field goal in the final eleven minutes of the first half. This gave them a 32 point lead heading into halftime, ending the half on a 27-2 run to make it a 44-12 ballgame.

The second half gave back-and-forth action from both teams with the Eagles outscoring the Tigers 40-36 during the last twenty minutes.

The final score ended at 80-52 with Gacoby Jones having a season high 32 points and shooting a notable 11-15 from the field and 7-of-9 from the three-point line.

The Tigers shot 52.9% (27-51), and their tough defense held the Eagles to 27.9% (19-68). From beyond the arc, the Tigers shot a season high 50% (12-24) while the Eagles shot 21.7% (5-23).

The Tigers were plagued with turnovers on the night having 21 in total, but led in the assist column with 17 total assists on their 27 made field goals.

The Tigers moved to 21-1 and 5-0 in conference play on the season. This put the longest winning streak in the nation to 20 in a row.

The Tigers next game is on Friday, Feb. 3 against #20 Florida College in a CAC Classic in Paragould, Ark..

In the girls’ matchup, the game started off with a few back-and-forth buckets from both teams, but a three from Brielle Baker off of an assist from Maci Kuchta gave the Tigers a 7-5 lead with just under seven minutes to play in the first quarter.

Just after the three minute mark, the Eagles closed the gap taking the lead 14-13 over the Tigers.

However, the Tigers finished the quarter on a 7-0 run, bringing the score to 20-14.

Megan Teal started the second quarter off with a pair of layups, soon after, both teams had trouble finding the bottom of the basket.

A couple of free throws for the Tigers gave them a 30-14 lead with just over five minutes to go in the half.

On the defensive end, the Tigers continued to make it difficult for the Eagles, accumulating steals and stops throughout the quarter, holding the Eagles to just 25 points in the 1st half. The Tigers managed to finish the half scoring 38 points, with a 13 point lead heading into the break.

The second half started with layups from both sides, but the Eagles brought the deficit to just 10 points after a pair of free throws with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.

The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run, expanding their lead yet again. To end the quarter, Faith Watkins hit a layup to give the Tigers a 53-35 lead over the Eagles.

Throughout the last quarter of the game, the Tigers dominated both sides of the ball, as their lead continued to grow.

The Tigers scored a majority of their points in the paint, tallying 36 points compared to the Eagles 12 points. With a total of 51 rebounds in the game, the Tigers dominated the boards on both offensive and defensive sides of the court.

The win brings the Tigers record to 15-6 overall, and 5-0 in conference play.

Three players were in double digits, led by Breanna Wendland with 15 points, Kyla Moore with 14, and Isabell West with 12.

The Tigers resume action on Friday, Feb. 3 against Crowley's Ridge College in the Crowley's Ridge Classic.