IW men break 3-point record

MT. PLEASANT - A major record fell at Iowa Wesleyan's Ruble Arena on Saturday. The Tiger men knocked down 23 three-pointers in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Spalding University, breaking the school record for made 3-pointers in a game en route to a 104-75 victory.

The Tigers jumped on the Golden Eagles right away. IW started the game on a 35-13 run, getting open look after open look against a Spalding team that was missing a few players due to injuries. Jake Neubauer nailed four threes over that stretch and the game was out of hand early.

IW hit 12 3-pointers in the first half, eight away from the previous record of 20 made threes, which was set in 2001. They also held a dominating 61-28 lead.

'We were aware of the record,” said Jett Tjaden, who had two makes from down town in the first half. 'But we were focused on winning the game above anything.”

Tjaden drained five more threes in the second half to finish with 23. He was 7-for-11 from 3-point range. Neubauer was 5-for-10 from deep and ended the day with 21 points and seven assists.

Alberto Torres hit a trifecta of threes and ended the day with 13 points. Jarryd Fernandes had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Austin Banks had 10 points, including the record-breaking 3-pointer with 6:43 remaining.

Kaleb Cresswell had six points on the night. Alex Dentlinger had five. Robert Heise scored four, and the trio of Matell Andres, Nico Sheck and David Seber had three apiece.

'We knew coming in that the way they were going to guard would leave a lot of open shots for us,” said IW head coach Alex Huisman. 'It was just a matter of guys knocking them down.”

The win put the Tigers back within two games of a top-four SLIAC standing. IW is now 8-11 overall and 5-7 in conference play. They sit in seventh place in the SLIAC standings with six games to go. The top four teams at the end of the year make the conference tournament.

IW will host Blackburn College on Wednesday night. Blackburn is one of two teams tied for fourth in the SLIAC at 7-5.

'Every game down the stretch is big,” Coach Huisman said. 'We've got six games left now, and everyone is tough. Blackburn is one of those teams right in front of us in the standings, so a win here at home would put us in a good spot.”