IW men edged by Westminster

WESTMINSTER, Mo. -The Iowa Wesleyan men put a big scare into Westminster on Wednesday night, but the Tigers couldn't quite pull off the comeback win. Westminster escaped with five points in the final 17 seconds to knock off the Tigers 77-72.

IW raced out to a 16-9 early in the first half, and didn't give up the lead until Westminster's Caywood Collin hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 5:47 remaining in the period.

The Tigers trailed by just two points with four minutes left in the half, but Westminster closed the half on an 11-3 run and took a 44-34 lead into the second half. Avree Clark led the Tigers in scoring in the first half, putting up 10 points including three three-pointers.

IW began to claw back in the second half and eventually tied it up at 58-58 on a Jake Neubauer three-pointer with 8:59 left. Westminster's Hayden Drace hit a jump shot to take the lead back, but Alberto Torres gave the Tigers the 61-60 lead with a three-pointer.

IW lost the lead again when Drace was fouled on a three-pointer with 6:25 left. He hit all three free throws, and the Blue Jays held the lead until Austin Rebel tied it at 69-69 on a free throw with 4:13 left.

The game was tied again at 71-71 with 3:35 remaining. Wands gave Westminster a one-point lead on a free throw with 2:22 remaining and nobody scored again until the final minute.

Trailing by one point, Austin Banks was fouled with 47 seconds remaining. He made one of two and the game was tied 72-72.

With 17 seconds remaining, the Blue Jays were fouled on a three-pointer once again. This time it was Caywood, who stepped up and hit all three free throws to give Westminster a 75-72 lead.

Clark had a three-point shot to tie the game with six seconds left but the shot missed and was rebounded by Westminster's Kobe Wands. Wands sealed the game with a couple of free throws and the Tigers fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the SLIAC.

Clark finished the game with 19 points to lead the Tigers. Neubauer had 14 points. Rebel finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Jarryd Fernandes had 10 points in the loss. Torres finished with six. Banks finished with five points and eight assists, and Camron Mack had five points of his own.

IW will play their first conference home game on Saturday, Dec. 1. They'll host Webster University at 3 p.m., with the women's game preceding it.