Tiger men storm back

MT. PLEASANT - The Iowa Wesleyan men weren't going to be denied on Wednesday night. The Tigers came back from an 11-point deficit to take down the Westminster College 85-79, getting revenge for an 81-64 loss in the women's game.

The Tiger men trailed by eight points with 4:20 remaining in the first half but clawed back to cut the Westminster lead to three points before halftime. The Blue Jays held a 40-47 when the two teams headed into the locker rooms.

IW started the second half off with a layup from Jarryd Fernandes, which cut the Westminster lead to 40-39. The Blue Jays responded with a 15-5 run to take their first double-digit lead, at 55-44 with 15 minutes left.

The Tigers slowly but surely chipped away at the Blue Jays lead. IW took the deficit down to one point on three different occasions midway through the first half, but the Blue Jays held the Tigers off every time.

IW finally tied the game back up with 5:01 remaining, getting a game-tying layup from Austin Banks. Westminster's Emil Spriggs completed a three-point play on the ensuing Blue Jays possession, however, and Westminster was back up three, at 75-72.

IW scored the next eight points of the game. Jarryd Fernandes made three-straight layups and then drew a foul with 2:13 remaining. Fernandes was shaken up on the play and had to go to the bench, but Austin Banks stepped up and hit two free throws to stretch the Tiger lead to 80-75 with 2:13 remaining.

Westminster went cold down the stretch, but the Blue Jays did have a shot to tie the game up with 29 seconds left. Ethan Thompson got a good look off an IW turnover, but his 3-pointer rimmed out, Banks grabbed the defensive rebound and made two free throws to ice the game.

'It's always nice to come away with a win, but it would be nice to not make it so stressful,” IW head coach Alex Huisman said. 'We started slow again, which has kind of become a habit of us the last two weeks. Credit to the guys, they kept battling, and eventually our shooters knocked shots down. But most importantly the guys guarded and battled defensively.”

Jake Neubauer made three shots from 3-point land and led the team with 17 points. Banks finished the night with 16 points and eight assists, and Alberto Torres-Municio hit four 3-pointers of his own to finish with 16 as well.

'We were able to play hard defense in the second half,” Toress-Municio said. 'The crowd was backing us up. It's so difficult to beat us here at home.”

Fernandes was in foul trouble for much of the second half, but he had an efficient game, going 7-for-8 from the field and finishing the night with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Kaleb Cresswell scored 10 points. Marvin Saintolien had eight, and Alex Dentlinger scored four.

The Tiger women stuck with the Blue Jays through the first half, trailing 20-10 after one quarter and 32-26 at the break. Westminster scored 26 points in the third quarter to take a 58-42 lead into the third quarter, and outscored the Tigers 23-22 in the final period.

Maddie Williamson had a big game, leading the team with 26 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Allie Massner had 10 points. Morgan McCrea had six. Harriet Fowler scored nine points and dished out four assists. Sydney Farrar had three, and Kieley Allen filled the stat sheet with two points, seven rebounds and four assists.

'We played them a lot better this game than the first time,” head coach Temaine Wright said. 'We went to their place and that game was over in the second quarter. So we're growing. We're getting better, and hopefully the scoreboard will reflect that by the end of the year.”

The Tiger men are now 7-10 overall and 4-5 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The women are 3-15 overall and 3-7 in the SLIAC. The Tigers will host Spalding University on Saturday.